Half Moon
by Ayla Curtis
Summary: Post Anime. Integra and Walter are back, Hellsing is running again, Freaks are turning against thier fellows and a teenage boy threatens the secrecy Hellsing has preserved. Chap 6 now up.
1. P 01: An Introduction

Disclaimer – All characters and concepts are copyright of their respective owners.

_**Authors Note – I will only continue to post this if I know that people actually want to read it so please review. Comments, constructive criticisms and suggestions are all welcome but please no flames. This is my second fic in total but my first Hellsing fic. If you see anything written in both bold and italics it means they are words spoken using telepathy, and anything in plain italics are thoughts. The PG-13 rating is for future violence (if you want me to continue) but may have to go up to R due to bad language on one characters part.**_

'**HALF MOON'**

**By**

**Ayla Curtis**

Part One: An Introduction

There was always work to be done; vampires, Freaks and other such unholy horrors of the night to be sent back to the hell that they had so foolishly crawled out of.

It just wasn't fair…there was probably a law somewhere that made sure that things always went wrong as soon as you thought you were on top of them. Integra Hellsing slammed her hand, open palmed, onto the desk. "Damn it all. Why this? Why now?"

It hadn't been long since she had been released from prison and for a while she had thought that things just might have returned to normal.

But it had been a flimsy wish…nothing more.

First humans had begun designing and _manufacturing_ Freaks and then some_thing_ or some_one_ else comes along and decides that it or they thought it was a good idea to turn the Freaks against each other…you would have thought that it would have been a good thing but it sure as hell wasn't, and then there was the matter of 'the boy'.

She growled something indistinct out of sheer frustration and then rubbed her eyes under her glasses.

"Over doing things are we, Master?" Asked a familiar deep voice.

She _felt_ him arrive before she actually _saw_ him. It was quite amazing to think that a single man (…if you could call him a _man_…) could make such an undeniably large office feel so claustrophobically small. His 'area of influence', as it were, extended far beyond the boundaries of his physical body.

She removed her crooked fingers from the corners of her eyes in time to see him slide neatly out of the shadows and step up to her desk, a wave of cold air following in his wake. "What is it that you want, Alucard?"

"There has been another attack on Freaks by other Freaks, in Kings Cross."

"I know that, thank you." She tapped one of the numerous documents with her pen as a means of explanation, "and you _know_ that I know because you were here when I was handed this, so why, I ask again, are you here when you should be resting; it's daylight."

He held up one finger as an indication for silence and right on cue there came a knock at the office door. "News." He said. "I wanted an excuse to hear it as soon as it came. Walter wouldn't let me know what it was until _you_ had been informed, so I came up."

Through the door a voice filtered through. "Sir Integra?" It was unmistakably the voice belonging to Walter.

"Come in." Integra called out, and then to Alucard softly said. "You could have read his mind."

"What, and spoil the surprise?" he laughed.

Walter, opened the door and entered, in his hand he held a card folder containing a variety of documents. He held them up as he approached. "I have here information regarding the identity of the mysterious teenager we have been seeing around, just as you asked."

Finally! At last they knew something about him!

You see…a lot had been happening since she returned. At first the incidents had been few and far between but now they were occurring with alarming regularity. There was little actual information about the incidents; all that _Hellsing_ knew was that a group of Freaks were randomly attacking and capturing other Freaks, and the next time the captured ones were seen they were working _with _the 'hunter' Freaks. The Hunter's numbers were rapidly increasing and yet they seemed uninterested in attacking humans and, in fact, avoided all conflict with anything but the Freaks they were after.

Then, of course, there was 'the boy'; their latest pain in the posterior. He had been showing up recently and killing vampires and ghouls…and anything else unholy that had decided to touch British soil. He worked, seemingly, alone and left as swiftly as he arrived. He had been dealing with some of _Hellsing_'s problems before they could get to them. He was a nuisance; they did not know his motives or purpose and most of all _he was not under their control._

"So who is he, what do we now know?" Integra gestured for Walter to continue.

Alucard stepped to the side to allow the ageing retainer centre space in front of the paper littered desk. One of the many items was a CCTV image still shot showing a blurry picture of 'the boy' in a school uniform, single-handedly beating seven bells out of three ghouls with a crow bar. It was one of the only half descent images that they had of him and was the sole reason that they had managed to finally discover who he was. They had been able to digitally enhance and magnify it enough to make out the school badge on his jacket and work their way from there.

"Well," Walter began, "His name is Axel Jaeger, his date of birth is in 1987, making him seventeen years old. That picture you have there with the uniform is from at least a year ago because he has moved on to Sixth Form and does not wear uniform now. His _name_ may not be English but he was born in London and also lives in London with his single mother, Linda Jaeger. Nothing is known of his father as he is the result of his mother's rape…she refused to have him aborted even with the circumstances of his conception and the fact that she was married with a two year old son, Theo, at the time – Axel's half brother. Axel's school reports say that he was a hard working, quiet and industrious student up until about two years ago when he became quite a delinquent, marring his previously pristine record with countless detentions, exclusions, official warnings and even run-ins with the police. The cause of his sudden downwards fall was Theo's murder."

"Bad luck in that family." Alucard said with a smirk.

"Don't be so rude." Walter snapped.

Alucard sniffed dismissively.

"What about _Theo's_ father? You said that their mother had been married but is single now." Integra queried.

"He divorced and left Linda a few years after Axel was born. We aren't sure why because he seemed so supportive during the pregnancy and the time he was there. He had rights to see Theo but after a while the boy flatly refused to visit. He has lived over in Manchester since he left and in the end did not make _any_ contact until Theo's funeral after which he disappeared again."

"Do you know the details of Theo's murder?"

"Not much, as the police themselves do not know everything." He flicked to another page in the file. "It seems that Theo and Axel were on their way home from an after school club when they were attacked by an unknown assailant who, for no apparent reason, left Axel grievously wounded and Theo dead. It seemed that Axel managed to fight him away and call his mother on his mobile phone before he passed out through blood loss. When the ambulance arrived Axel was still unconscious and Theo was found to have been decapitated."

"_Decapitated_?" Integra exclaimed.

"Yes, ma'am. The coroner's report states that the head had not been cut of, it had been torn off as if by brute strength alone."

"My god…"

"But the decapitation was _Post _Mortem. The actual cause of death was exsanguination due to multiple puncture wounds to the shoulders, arms and neck. In easier terms; he bled out through bites; you can see them clearly in the autopsy photographs. The attacker was never found but DNA evidence collected from under Axel's fingernails showed that the attacker should be a dead man."

"Vampire." Alucard said.

"Indeed it would seem so." Walter agreed. "From what we know of Axel's 'vampire slayer' hobby it could be deduced that it may have been Axel himself who removed Theo's head from his shoulders to prevent him becoming a ghoul and blood evidence on Axel's clothes and skin seems to confirm that this is quite possible…but it is impossible for a fifteen year old boy to tear someone's head off with determination alone while in a state of extreme weakness through blood loss. It is an inhuman feat for even a fully grown man, injured or otherwise."

Alucard contemplated this and then folded his arms over his chest. "Then perhaps young Mr. Jaeger is not human at all."

"If you are attempting to be amusing, it is not working." Walter said dryly. "I think that his mother would have noticed if her son was a monster of sorts."

Alucard's smirk widened into a grin. "A mother will love their child no matter _what_ they are or become. It could explain why Theo's father left, having no attachment to a non-human child that had nothing to do with him."

"I think you will find that _someone_ in his life, say teachers and doctors, may have notices as well. And it would make more sense that he developed his vampire killing spree _because_ of the attack, meaning he wouldn't have known to take Theo's head off whether he was able to or not. It is _highly _unlikely Do try to think first, Alucard."

"_I _think," Integra said, leaning forwards, resting her arms on the desk and clasping her hands together, "that we need a quiet word with Mr. Jaeger."

Walter nodded. "You have an idea how we might go bout this? We cannot just force him…and once we have revealed ourselves to him he will become a true threat."

"He is already a threat. He already knows about vampires and the likes and that is _too_ much."

"We can't just kidnap him." Walter disapproved of what he thought of as the implications of her statement.

"That was not my intention. I was thinking along the lines of having him come to us rather than the other way around. If he fancies himself as a vampire hunter then perhaps we can give him a vampire to hunt."

Alucard's impossibly wide grin managed to widen even further, his fangs glaringly obvious and rather intimidating to view.

"Not _you_." Integra told him.

The grin shrank and was replaced by a somewhat deflated and disappointed frown. "And why ever not?"

"Because a corpse is no good for questioning; you would more-than-likely kill him. I think that your little pet would be a more suited candidate for the task; she can keep herself alive but still let him think that he has the upper hand, if he really is a good as he appears to be. A few of the vampires he has slain were not weak Freaks."

"So instead of outright kidnapping you will lure him into an ambush and _then_ kidnap him, correct?" Walter still disapproved of such harsh treatment of a teenage boy, even if there was the possibility of him being some kind of hell spawn.

"Usually we just silence threats." Alucard said. Still annoyed that he couldn't take the job; he had been very bored recently.

"We cannot kill a seemingly 'innocent' boy. He has family, we cannot explain his death to them when they do not know what we know and nor can we tell them. He has a life unlike the creatures that we deal with every night and day."

"Then how will you explain his disappearance from being kidnapped?" Alucard enquired.

Integra sighed deeply and smoothed her hair. "I need time to plan this…time to think it through. You are right; I'm rushing and I have been overdoing things, we need to be careful and prepare before we instigate anything."

A small smile reappeared on his features from the vague and rare compliment he had received; he had gotten through her shell…it didn't happen often and was something to be savoured…a step closer to the sweet blood he so desired.

"If you have any thoughts on the situation do not hesitate to inform me." Integra stood up. "I know that it's light but I have nothing important planned today and I have missed two nights worth of sleep. I am going to have a rest; sleep on it."

"A sound idea, ma'am." Walter agreed.

"Wake me if anything turns up."

"Will do, Sir Integra."

"Thank you." She crossed the floor to the door. Walter followed behind her. As her hand touched the cold metal of the door handle she felt the room empty when Alucard's presence was lifted as he faded back into the shadows.

His voice echoed in her head as he went. **_Sleep well, Master_**.

"Have Victoria watch Axel." Integra told Walter as she ambled out into the hall. "She is not to make any contact; just make mental notes about an average day for him. If he has some sort of routine then this may help in whatever is decided."

For once Seras had been having a dreamless sleep. These nights had become like gold dust to her – so very precious and so very hard to come by. For weeks now her rest had been shot with dreams of cold blood and death caused by her own hand with the voice of her master (…though he was her master no more…) following her every step; guiding…goading…taunting. Now there was nothing but soft empty darkness to warm her heart and ensure her that she had not yet relinquished the last few shreds of her humanity that she had managed to capture inside.

But the beautiful nothingness was shattered by a nock on her coffin lid and a muffled voice speaking through the thick wood. "Miss Victoria, there is a special assignment waiting for you if you would be so kind as to wake."

Seras yawned and hit the button so the lid lifted. She was greeted by an expectant looking butler. "Afternoon, Walter." She then took a look at the clock (she had brought one in herself because she was sick of wondering what time it was)…it was only 3 pm…

Walter caught her checking the clock. "Yes, I know that it is somewhat early for you, however this is not a usual assignment and will take some briefing time. You have some history to learn."

"Thrilling, I'm sure." she said sarcastically as she swung her legs off of the bed.

"I'll meet you in Sir Integra's office."

Once Walter had exited the room she stood up, collected her uniform and went to the bathroom to wash and dress. She would have said that she didn't feel human until she had washed of a morning but now such a phrase was somewhat redundant as she was no longer of the mortal persuasion and her mornings had become evenings.

With clothes changed, wet hair dried and brushed and nightdress dumped onto the back of the chair in her room, Seras made her was laboriously up to Integra's office. Upon knocking ad entering she was surprised to find that Integra was not, in fact, there at all. Walter, however, was and was standing next to the over laden desk, holding a document folder.

Seras was _not_ liking the look of this in the slightest. What did she have to do that was going to take such a long briefing and required her to learn a history of sorts? That was a _large_ folder…a very fat folder…

Walter thrust said fat folder at her as she approached. "You are going to have to take a good long look at this as we have a little espionage job for you."

As she flicked through the folder Walter continued to speak. "This is Axel Jaeger, we need you to keep an eye on him, watch him carefully and take metal note of anything of importance or significance. We need to be able to neutralise the threat he poses without killing him. If you can; find out _why_ he is doing what he does and _how_ he knows so much."

"He's that boy we've been seeing about. The one who keeps killing vampires and ghouls…" she said as she stared at one of the old school photos of him that they had been able to lay their hand on.

"My, how perceptive you are. Now do run along. You'll be leaving her as soon as it is dark and a car will be arranged to take you to the area he lives in and pick you up again just before light. You shan't need your uniform as you will need to be as inconspicuous as possible."

"You want me to stalk a seventeen year old boy?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Those are your orders, Miss Victoria."

"Ri-iight…uh, Walter, where is Sir Integra?"

"She is attending to an important matter. The orders come through me from her."

Seras sighed meaningfully, grudgingly accepted the folder and turned to leave.

As she did so Walter heard her whisper to herself. "Espionage? Who do I look like; bloody James Bond?"

She suddenly stopped and turned back again. "Wouldn't it make more sense to send one of our human field agents…what with them being human and all….If this boy hunts vampires he might notice me easier…and he has a dog…it'll smell me…isn't that dog one of the ways he goes about finding vampires and ghouls…didn't he train it like a sniffer-dog to seek them out…_us_ out-"

"Miss Victoria." He interrupted. "Your senses far surpass those of any of our field agents. Trust me; you are suited to this task."

"Why not Master Alucard? He is more…experienced…than me. Surely he would do better…than…me…" her sentence trailed off due to the look she was being given. "…Uh…."

"Alucard cannot act human and is about as conspicuous as a person can get. He is a being that demands an impressive entrance. He could complete this task quite easily as it_ is_ in his abilities but after the battle with Incognito he has been burning to find excuses to fight anyone and anything. That is not the state of mind a man needs to be in to carry out this particular mission."

"Well…I-I I supposed that makes sense…"

Again she turned and this time actually did leave.

She spent the excessive time she had reading through all of the extremely detailed files that _Hellsing_ had been able to pull on the boy she was being sent to stalk. She had never seen him herself, she had only seen what he had left behind and heard what others had told her. At first she had though that it had all been a joke but it turned out to be true. Ghouls and vampires and other such monsters were being mercilessly hunted down by him and killed in a variety of brutal manners. His kills were rarely ever clean; his victims often suffered and sometimes he never finished them off at all. Sometimes he left vampires to bleed out or to be caught in the light. She herself had found one such case in a mausoleum in an old cemetery. A young female vampire had been cruelly impaled with short metal spears to the lid of one of the coffins; she was too weak to pull herself off. The boy had beaten her senseless, riddled her with wounds, pulled out her fangs and written the words 'you reap what you sow' on her forehead with a thin black marker pen. She had once been a Freak, but Axel had cut out the chip. The teeth were found on the floor but the chip was not recovered. Seras ended the girls suffering with a single bullet. It was later discovered that the mausoleum was a meeting place for Hunters and it would seem that the vampire girl had been left as a message for them; a warning.

And this was the boy she was being sent to stalk…if she hadn't been a vampire, she would have felt the urge to get on her knees and pray.

She made herself content to simply read what she had been given and memorise anything that might be helpful to her, such as names and addresses of family members, places Axel seemed to like to 'hang out', the few friends that had stuck by him after his dramatic personality change two years previously, the details of his brothers death and other such little pieces of information. She was even bored enough to learn his dog's name; Mishka.

As the day wound on she fell asleep again and awoke to the sight of a blood packet that had been placed, yet again, in a pale of ice and set on her table along with a bowl and a spoon. "Damn you, Walter." She mumbled and decided to ignore the meal laid out for her. She deftly tossed aside the folder and occupied herself with changing into 'civilian' clothes that could make her blend into just about any crowd, steering away from some of the adorably gothic outfits she had and opting for a simple t-shit, jacket and jeans combination.

"The only reason I have to do this," she huffed to herself as she yanked on a pair of sandy coloured boots, "is because Master doesn't seem to like wearing clothes from this century."

A knock came at the door and then Walter peered around. "Miss Victoria, it's time. Oh…you haven't eaten…"

"I'm not hungry thank you, Walter." she said and she wedged a pistol into the waistband of her jeans under her jacket.

"You never are." Walter observed.

She merely smiled innocently and pretended that she hadn't heard him.

----------

The journey to the area in which Axel Jaeger lived was about as uneventful as anything she had ever had to suffer before, but it was a welcome break from the terrible excitement that you got working for _Hellsing_.

The gentle trees and quiet roads outside the Hellsing family manor gave way to heavy traffic ad built up city life. It calmed a little after a while and they were soon cruising along one of the quieter areas of miserable, grey London.

She was delivered safely and then left to her own devices.

It took her fifteen minutes to locate the small semi-detached house that was said to be the residence of Axel Jaeger…and then another two minutes to realise that there was no way she was going to be able to look inside it without suspicious neighbours calling the police.

The house was one of the two that made the walls of an alley leading between the buildings to the garages behind, so she took a wander and stayed close to the fence to see if anyone might happen to be in the garden. She thought she could hear someone in the garden…and then she heard barking; deep, angry dog barks.

She pelted down the alley to the back and ducked behind the garages, hoping that Mishka (or she presumed that it was Mishka) would stop raising the alarm.

"Woah, what's up?" called a voice from over the fence in the garden. Axel had come out. The boy had an attractively deep voice for his age but it was not so deep as to seem too out of place for a seventeen year old.

Mishka kept barking.

"Hey, what is it? You smell some vamps, huh? Is that it? Don't worry I'll sort it later, you mark my words."

Mishka continued to bark in an almost desperate manner. He could smell a vampire close by…so very close by.

"Mishka, quiet, sit." The orders Axel gave must have been immediately obeyed for the dog went instantly silent. "Good boy. Come on; back in the house with you. We'll sort the overgrown mosquitoes later. Go on."

She heard the tinkling bell-like noise made by the dog's collars as he padded away back into the house.

Seras breathed a quiet sigh of relief; this was going to be harder that she thought. She _knew_ that Mishka was going to be a problem. Stupid dog.

She needed to find a way to at least look in on that garden…hopefully they had glass patio doors she could look in on…

Looking around she spotted a sizeable looking tree that was growing in place of a garage that had been pulled down due to it being unsafe. She had never really done any tree climbing as a child but now wasn't the time to reminisce about missed past activities. Jumping up she wrapped her hands around one low limb and pulled herself up with little effort, sliding herself up and over branches until she was at a useful height.

The small garden that Seras was now overlooking seemed no different from all the others that surrounded it, with its patch of green lawn that could do with a bit more care and flowers that bloomed out of sync with their neighbours. There was the obligatory shed at the end that most of the gardens seemed to have…the only difference with this one was that this one belonged to the Jaeger family.

Axel was in the shed…she could now hear him scraping around inside for something or another…it was the only reason she could actually look into the garden; he wasn't out there to see her peering in from a tree nearby. The tree had been the only way to see over the high fence and she looked highly suspicious hanging out of the branches.

She was going to adjust her leaning position when Linda Jaeger came out into the garden. Seras dived back into the leaves and hope she hadn't been spotted.

"_Axel!_" Linda called out. "I am not going to tell you again; dinner is ready."

"I know." Axel replied from inside the shed. "I heard you first time."

"Don't give me that. And if you heard me first time why haven't you come in?"

"I need to finish this. I'll be in, in a sec."

"No you come in _now_."

"Mum! Please!"

"Fine, do what you like; but I'm still going to make you eat your food even if it's gone stone cold."

"Fine, great, groovy!"

"I mean it, Axel, I _will_ force it down your throat by hand if necessary. I don't care how old you are I will pin you down and spoon feed you like a baby, bib and all."

"Yes, lovely!"

"Are you even listening?"

"Of course! Err…can I eat it in here?"

"No you cannot! Last time I let your bring your dinner into the shed you forgot about it and didn't eat at all. By the time I found it, it had started to grow a whole new species of life on it. I thought the whole plate would get up and run away; it was disgusting."

_And this boy is a threat to Hellsing?_ Seras thought to herself from the safety of the leaves.

"Ok, so it got a little mouldy…but it didn't get _that_ bad." Axel retorted.

"Get your arse in here _now_ or I'll drag you in."

"Alright! Jeez! I'm coming." And with that they departed the garden to return to the house; their shoes crunching noisily on the gravel pathway. She heard the back door close and ventured to peer out again. Indeed they were gone, and so was Mishka.

It seemed that they had no handy glass patio to be nosey through…and as it was dark they had closed the curtains.

"Damn." She cursed under her breath…now what was she to do?

Hmmm…the shed appeared to be open…left unlocked by a careless Axel as rushed to get inside before his mother managed to grab him…Seras wondered what it was that had captured Axel's attention so fully inside the small wooden storage room. It had seemed important.

She just _had_ to risk a look. Her mission was to gather information, so that was damn well what she was going to do.

From the tree she was able to make a short and ungainly leap onto the garage that backed onto the Jaeger garden, and from there was able to neatly drop down into the garden itself.

As quietly as was vampirically possible she slipped into the shed and pushed the door to behind her; it kept prying eyes out but stopped her being locked in.

The shed was more like a vampire hunter's workshop. Crucifixes were nailed to the walls, there was a pot full of silver jewellery that appeared to be halfway through being melted down for some purpose or another…beside that was what appeared to be a pair of silver coated spiked knuckle dusters, perfect for use on the silver fearing un-dead…there were papers with photographs and names on; all vampires and monsters…newspaper clippings about incidents Seras recognised only too well…there were even some DVD/CD recordings labelled _'Net vamp snuff films' _and '_Hellsing clips: Net TV'._

Seras couldn't believe what she was seeing.

And there…on one worktop was a water filled jar that contained at least a dozen Freak chips. One of the chips had been placed carefully under a microscope…there were some extensive notes about it in a pad beside the jar.

"…My god…how much does he know?" She gasped.

"Obviously more than you thought, devil's whore." Said an attractively deep voice behind her.

_To be continued……_


	2. P 02: A Matter of Survival

Part 2: A Matter of Survival

Seras' first thoughts were to back away; unfortunately such progress was impeded by the worktop and the wall.

Axel stepped fully into the shed. "Bitch, how dare you come here…You're so _for_ it now. Sad things is; you wont be alive long enough to regret it."

He was by no means a short boy, and she felt inclined to call him a man, he stood just over average height and had a gymnast's muscle definition to go with it. His sartorial elegance consisted of a tight dark blue, long sleeved t-shirt and black jeans that were tucked into his knee high Dr. Marten boots. As accessories to this he also wore black leather wristbands and fingerless black leather gloves as well as a modest silver cross on a chain around his neck and a solid silver belt buckle in the shape of a deaths head skull. His sharp, cold eyes were light grey and piercing, making it seem as though he was looking into you rather than at you. His hair was dark brown and formed into short messy spikes while his right eye was almost completely obscured by a long spiky fringe that only hung on that side of his face. His right eye sparkled balefully behind the bars of hair like the gaze of a prisoner in a cell who has just seen the jailer who put them there. In his right hand he tightly gripped a crow bar; the same one Seras had seen in the CCTV image still shot.

"Why are you doing this?" Seras demanded, trying hard to keep her voice steady. She didn't know why her body wanted to shake; he was only a boy after all (no matter what her mind was registering). There was something _about _him, something profound and deep.

"Because it's what I do." he growled; 'growl' being the correct description for how he was speaking. He was also baring his teeth and his canines seemed distinctly longer than most peoples.

"Vampire?" she asked, staring.

"No!" he roared. "Just because I can hunt you it doesn't mean that I'm one of you, bitch!"

"Are you even human?" she said, voice trembling. She could feel something _different_ about him.

"I'm as human as the next man." He was stepping gradually closer, the knuckles of his right hand showed bright white from gripping the metal shaft of the crow bar so tightly. "You damn _leech_! You dare come to my house, you invade my only sanctuary. Haven't you destroyed my life enough already?"

"But I-I've never even seen you before." Seras' hand snaked behind in search of her gun…but found it to be missing from its place. It must have slipped out of her waistband as she climbed the tree. She damned herself for not getting a shoulder holster.

"Oh, don't be so selfish. The world doesn't revolve around _you_ y'know. It is your entire, pathetic, revolting excuse for a species that I have a problem with." He was now growing unbearably close. "Oh look, you're shaking."

He was now standing right against her, so close she could feel his breath on her face and feel his chest against her own as she breathed harshly through the fear of unknown origin. She had faced worse than he before so why did his mere presence chill her to the bone? He was almost _obscenely_ close…and there was something wild in his eyes…something deep within those two frozen grey and black pools that reminded her of something or someone she knew…

She could stand it no longer and lashed out; swinging her fist straight at him.

With barely a grunt of effort and almost inhuman speed he caught her fist in his own and pushed her back over the work top, scattering paper and leaning over her.

"You _can't _be human!" she screeched as he dropped the crow bar and closed his other hand around her throat.

He was just too strong and too fast…there was surely no way that human blood could run through his veins.

"Oh, but I am." He told her, crushing her wind pipe with his fingers. "My GP agrees, so does my mum, the guy who delivered me when I was born, my dentist and everyone I know. Scary, isn't it?"

She tried to scream and he held on tighter. "Shut up, bitch! There's no need to disturb the neighbours; they're all good people, unlike you and your fucked up kind."

He whirled her around and threw her to the floor as he snatched up his crow bar again. "Get out, shit worm. I make a point not to spread my misery to innocent people and so I can't kill you here. I refuse to disturb the peace that this place represents. Leave, but don't think for a second that I won't come after you. I'll give you a head start just to make it fair. I won't have anyone say I'm an unfair guy. Now GO!"

Without a second hesitation she scrabbled on the floor, got to her feet and bolted out of the shed. She exited the garden the same way that she came; up and over the garage. She then retrieved her pistol form were it had dropped conveniently into a pile of leaf litter and ran from Axel's sanctuary.

She didn't stop until she had reached the 'pick up' point. She then fished around in an inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out two-way radio. "Hello, anyone?" she spoke into it after turning it on and leaning against a wall. "There's been…I mean…I've…oh hell…" she released the key button. She just didn't know what to say. _How about 'I ballsed it up good and proper'_ she thought.

Then Walter's voice cut through the static – "Miss Victoria? Are you alright?"

"There's been a - a…a _complication_." She settled for.

"What?" he now had a worried tone.

"I was spotted. Axel caught me." She told him as she touched the sore red mark that ringed her throat.

"What! How could you let him see you; you've barely been out for two hours and most of that was the journey down there!"

"I know, I'm so sorry." It was then that she heard a metallic tinkling noise, not unlike the sound produced by dog-tags. "Oh no…I have to go…"

"Miss Vi-" was all that came through before she switched the radio off and jammed it back in her pocket.

The jingling was followed by a low animal growling, the kind of sound that might have made an ancient cave man go crawling home to mummy.

Seras drew her gun and thanked her own memory for making sure she had put a silencer on it for occasions such as this when she had to defend herself in a civilian area.

The growling grew closer and then a dark coated Siberian husky dog with its teeth bared stalked out of the shadows of a side street towards her; Mishka, Axel's faithful companion and partner in crime.

The husky wasn't alone; behind him his master emerged with a confident swagger in his step and a sly smile on his lips.

"I promised I'd come." He said. There was something strapped to his back but she couldn't make out what…although it did look suspiciously gun shaped. A leather strap of sorts had been tightened around the lower half of his right leg and thin shafts of metal with barbed tips had been wedged in. She also noticed that he was wearing the knuckle dusters she had spotted in the shed. Oh, and the crow bar was hooked on his belt.

"So is this how you go hunting?" she said, unsure whether to aim at Axel or Mishka.

"Yeah." He replied. "Now tell me this; why did you come here? If you came to kill me you would have done that by now and you wouldn't have run away, what with having that gun and all. Mishka; heel, sit." The dog automatically obeyed, went to his side and sat down. "Good boy. So, vampire; what's your answer?"

Seras just looked at him and sighted along her pistol at his shoulder.

"Well, _that_ won't kill anyone." He said. "Try _here_." he placed one finger on his chest, over his heart.

"Well maybe I don't want to kill you." She said.

"Then why are you pointing a gun at me? The only purpose a weapon has is to kill. Don't you feel that sometimes it's the trigger pulling your finger rather than the other way around?"

"I never shoot for the sake of shooting."

"But you'll aim for the sake of aiming? Oh, come one. Either shoot me or put the damn thing down. Hurry up, I don't have all night y'know and neither do you. Make up your mind or lie down and die."

"I'm already dead." She mumbled and was then quite shocked to see that her hands, of their own accord, had tracked the gun to the boy's chest rather than his shoulder.

Axel began to walk forwards again. "Hang about…I think I've seen you before somewhere…"

Seras shook her head and tightened her finger on the trigger.

He shrugged. "Hell if I can remember. Who cares, in the end you're all the same. You all end up as shapeless piles of dust on the ground."

"I'll shoot, I swear I'll shoot." She warned.

"Does it look like I'm stopping you? Go ahead."

_I cant do it…_she said to herself…_If he isn't lying, if he is just a human boy…I can't call this self defence because he hasn't actually done anything…I cant kill him for being threatening. What the hell am I going to do? Oh my god, he's right in front of me!_

And indeed he was; the barrel of her pistol was flush with his chest.

"Well?" he asked, staring down into her red eyes.

She stared back. The trigger moved no further.

"What are you looking for?"

"Humanity." She told him as she searched the wasteland that his eyes represented. There was nothing in them…

"I meant in my shed." He corrected her, with a hint of annoyance.

"I'm not sure…I was just curious, I guess." She didn't move the gun, nor did she move herself.

"You're…not…a Freak." He said slowly and deliberately.

"No." she jabbed the gun against him. "I don't want to have to kill you."

"But I would very much like to kill you. So, it seems that this could work out really well; I get to rid the world of another chunk of scum while you offer no resistance. I _like_ that idea."

"Well I don't!" she pushed forwards against him, knocking him briefly off balance and then, like a coward, she ran away; tearing down the alley as though the devil himself were after her.

She heard heavy steps from boots and tinkling dog tags following her.

_Leave me alone. _She thought desperately, as though some god somewhere might take pity on a poor vampire in distress. _Please just leave me alone_.

There was a click followed by a sound along the lines of smooth steel sliding against more smooth steel and then her left knee seemed to explode.

Screaming out in pain she fell to the ground, pistol dropping from her hand.

She had been shot but not with a bullet. Protruding from her shattered knee, piercing through the joint of her leg, was a silver-tipped, short, thin metal spear.

She tried to pull it out but the barbed tip prevented her from doing do and it wasn't helped by her own blood making the shaft too slick to grip.

Lying prone on the floor Axel found her. In his hands he held the gun-like weapon that she had seen on his back; a two and a half foot long spear gun more commonly used in fishing now put to the task of hunting vampires and ghouls.

Mishka trotted around and sat by her head while Axel stood over her, one foot either side of her midriff.

Looking up at him she saw him pull back the sling of the spear gun into the firing position with no effort at all and then slam another spear from the strap on his leg into place. "As I said before; I'm a reasonable guy." He reminded her as he pointed the spear gun at her heart. "So, is there anywhere in particular you want me to scatter your ashes? I'm feeling generous tonight so I'll even make sure Mishka doesn't piss on them."

Seras did the only thing she could think of; she kicked upwards with her good leg and was rewarded with a strained cry of "Gnnnmh!" from Axel as her boot connected with his crotch. The spear gun slipped from his fingers as he clutched at himself while his eyes screwed shut and he keeled over sideways.

Unfortunately her attack upon the self proclaimed vampire slayer caused his loyal Mishka to take action. The dog leapt towards her with a hellish bark of protective anger and it was all she could do to keep the teeth from tearing out her throat, let alone push the entire husky aside and attempt an escape.

While she struggled with the animal, Axel unfolded from his pain wracked foetal position and retrieved his weapon. "Mishka, heel!"

Mishka obeyed, leaving Seras alone to sit by his beloved master's side. "You are going to regret that big time." he said, aiming again.

He watched Seras' eyes widen, but _not _infear. A kind of joy washed over her face. He then felt cold metal being pressed against the back of his head.

Mishka suddenly went wild for it wasn't until he sensed the changed in his master that he noticed the red clad figure that had slinked invisibly out of the darkness.

The husky leapt at the creature that had dared to come so close to Axel.

"Mishka, no!" Axel roared. "Stop! Down!"

Mishka twisted in mid-air, landed and simply growled at the tall, pale humanoid that smelled of death.

"Master." Seras said happily.

"You seem to be in a spot of bother, Police Girl." Alucard grinned, and then he spoke to Axel. "You're lucky you called off your dog; I would have shot it."

"I know." Axel said. He had lowered his weapon but otherwise showed know signs of caring that there was a gun to his skull. His mouth twisted into a snarl. "So _that's_ where I know you from. You're _Hellsing_'s pet demons."

"Vampires, not demons." Alucard corrected him.

"Does it look like I care, blood breath?"

"I could smear your brains all over this alley."

"Go ahead; my psychology teacher says that I don't use them anyway."

"What are you, boy?" Alucard asked him the same question that Seras had in different words. He too could sense something out-of-the-ordinary about the teenager.

"Whatever I want to be." Axel replied.

"How bad is the damage, Police Girl?" Alucard enquired.

"I'll be fine as soon as I can get this bloody thing out of my knee." She informed him, sitting up. "What will you do with him?"

"Well…he's run off of his own accord, right? He left home alone, armed, and attacked you."

"What are you getting at, Master?"

"Say goodnight, boy." Alucard told him calmly and then hit him hard on the back of the head with the butt of the Casull.

Axel crumpled like a rag doll; knocked clean out, with a scalp wound now allowing blood to seep into his hair. Mishka leapt again and Alucard swiftly grabbed and dealt with him similarly.

"Master, what have you done?!"

"Rendered them temporarily immobile and incapable of further attacks." He looked at his gun and saw that some of the boy's blood had been spattered on the grip where he had hit him. Showing immense delight he traced the droplets of the deep red stain with the tip of his tongue and savoured the taste. His eyes suddenly flared in surprise.

"Master, what is it?"

The emotion was gone again. His face was carefully blank once more. "I'll explain later. For now, let's get you walking again."

He knelt down beside her and took hold of the spear in one gloved hand. "This is going to hurt." He said; just to let her know so she didn't blame him for what would come next and so she knew what to expect.

She nodded, closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

Three seconds later a high pitched scream rang out through the streets as Alucard tore the short spear from the joint.

"Focus on healing." He demanded of her as she continued moaning and hugging her injured knee.

"Master, how did you know I was in trouble?" she asked as she blinked back tears.

"Walter was worried about your call, so he told me I should check on you."

"Oh…" she'd forgotten about the radio message.

Alucard grabbed Axel's limp form by the arm and slung him unceremoniously over on shoulder. "Bring the mutt and the weapons." He said and stalked off.

Hobbling a little, she did as her master asked.

----------

"What have you done?!" Integra demanded as she watched Alucard set about firmly securing the boy to a bed in one of the many spare rooms of the manor with chains, belts, ropes and anything of use that he could lay his hands on. Mishka was being locked in another room by Seras. "What is the meaning of this?"

Walter, hearing the shouts, burst in. "Oh my…but…you were specifically told _not_ to touch him."

Alucard shrugged and tightened the last rope. "It was do or die. If I didn't do something, the Police Girl would die."

"Why the need to truss him up, Alucard; is there something that you are neglecting to tell us or are you being aberrantly cautious?"

"Former." He said and stood back as Seras returned from ensuring the husky was well contained.

"Well?" Integra crossed her arms. "You know how I hate to be kept waiting."

The trademark grin began to spread again. "How does this boy appear to you? _What_ does he seem to be?"

"Alucard…" there was a hint of warning in the tone of her voice; she wasn't in the mood to be messed about.

"Please just humour me."

From the corner Seras hesitantly supplied some information. "Well…his teeth, strength and speed suggest vampire and so does this feeling that I get, but everything else about him just _screams_ human."

"So your conclusion is…?" he urged her to make a decision.

"Vampire?" she suggested uncertainly.

"Wrong."

"So, he _is_ human then." Integra said.

"Wrong as well." The grin as very smug now.

"How can he be neither, Master?"

"He isn't really." He explained. "He is, in fact, _both_."

Jaws dropped all round.

"Explain." Integra stepped over to the bed and took a good long look while Alucard continued.

"His blood is both human and vampire at the same time for he is one of a race of creatures that are almost nil in numbers; confused beings who suffer self conflict every moment of their existence. Outcasts amongst both humans and vampires, few survive into adulthood due to suicidal tendencies and health problems. Few are even born. In most cases the child is stillborn. Axel Jaeger is, in short-"

Integra interrupted and finished the sentence. "A dhampir."

_To be continued……_

_**Author's Note – As requested, the story continues. Thank you for the reviews everyone! Reviews make me happy and a happy author writes faster (hint hint). It helps me to know what people think of the things I do. If there is something you might like to see happen don't hesitate to let me know as I always end up being stuck for 'filler' points between main events. I hope you continue to read, enjoy and review. Thanks again!**_

_**Also; I am a fan of both Manga and Anime and I know that there are differences in the names. I use 'Alucard' and 'Integra' rather than 'Arucard' and 'Integral' purely because I think the former look/sound better, not because of any significance behind them.**_


	3. P 03: Seeing Eye to Eye

Part Three: Seeing Eye to Eye.

"Dhampir?" Seras looked very confused.

"Yes, half human and half vampire." Integra confirmed.

"How could that happen…I mean the whole reason that vampires _turn_ people is because they, I mean we, are…dead…and can't have kids, right?"

"Biologically speaking, vampires have all the necessary functioning 'equipment' to produce offspring." Walter informed her. "But because of the issue of death any children from two vampires are always stillborn, not un-dead. As Alucard said; dhampir's rarely occur and even if they do they often die in their teenage years either due to health or suicide."

"What kind of health issues would a _dhampir_ have, I mean honestly…wouldn't being half vampire make them immune to most things?"

Integra filled in with what little information she knew from a book she had read once when she was younger, before the death of her father. "They are immune to most disease and infection, only the very worst will affect them but they are predisposed to suffering disorders such as bi-polar disorder (or 'manic' depression), major depression, insanity, heat syndrome, photodermatosis and anaemia amongst other things."

"Woah, that's a lot of problems…y'know, Axel didn't seem that way to me though. He was just fine, fit and healthy."

"They don't _have_ to have health problems. It's just a common characteristic of his kind."

As this statement was aired the dhampir in question stirred and began to wake. His eyes blearily blinked open and attempted to focus. He then tried to raise his hands to rub them only to find that his entire body had been restrained. He struggled for a while but then gave up as he realised that he was going nowhere fast. "Yippee." He said without the slightest hint of enthusiasm. "This had better not be some un-dead mosquito's sick fetish 'coz if it is I'm going to do something _everyone_ will regret and it sure as hell won't be pretty."

"You'll do no such thing." Said Integra.

He turned his head and looked at her. "Ah…am I right in thinking that my poor little self is being held captive by the infamous _Hellsing_ organisation, or have I gone funny in the head and started seeing things?"

"You are correct in your first assumption. I am Sir Hellsing, director of this organisation; although I assume that you know this already."

"Hnh." He grunted. "I was wondering how long it would take you to catch up with me. You took your time."

"We were considering our options. There were many conflicting factors to be taken into account."

He looked down at his tightly bound body. "I take it by these extreme measures that you know about me."

"If you are referring to your being a dhampir then, yes."

"What have you done with Mishka?"

"He isn't dead if that is what you are asking." Alucard butted in before his Master.

"You…" Axel spat. "You did this, you fucking asshole."

"My, what polite language children use towards their elders these days."

"Elder; yes, but better; never!"

"You say that with such conviction yet you _know_ it to be false. How could a bastard half breed ever hope of winning against a true blood nosferatu?"

"How do you fit through doors with a head that big?" Axel snorted.

"Jealousy is such a terrible thing."

Axel began growling…though it was more like a hiss than a true growl. "Five minutes…I could take you out in five minutes."

The No Life King made a tutting sound. "And you call _me_ big headed."

"Alucard, stop provoking him." Integra ordered.

Reluctantly he fell silent and stepped back.

"Jaeger, I apologise for your present condition; it was never our intention to bring you here like this but it seems that Alucard took matters into his own hands."

"Well, he _was_ trying to kill me." Seras pointed out.

"Don't expect me to apologise." Axel snapped. "You're a vampire and I make it my job to kill vampires; I'm damn good at it."

"Why do you hunt vampires?" Integra figured she may as well interrogate him as best she could while he was there so she pulled up a chair and sat down by the bed. "You are half vampire after all."

"So what? Humans kill humans all the time, and you've trained those two into killing their own."

She had to admit (mentally, at least) that he did have a point. "Do you hope to find your father? To take revenge for your mother?"

"I have no idea which clot sucker is my dad and I couldn't really give a toss."

"So what other reason do you have?"

"…killing vampires is traditionally what a dhampir does…in myths and things."

"So you are conforming to a stereotypical role?" Alucard sniffed.

"You could say that, yeah. I have my reasons, doesn't mean I gotta tell you them. Piss off."

An almost palpable sense of tension began to fill the space between the dhampir and the vampire.

"You look a bit flustered." Axel observed of Alucard. "What's up; can't read my mind?"

"Your nature makes it difficult to read your thoughts. At the moment all I am getting is your repressed vampiric instincts. They are masking your sentient thoughts."

Axel grinned, it was a grin along the lines of those that frequently camped upon Alucard's lips. It was then that some rather ominous creaking sounds began to be produced from his restraints and the bed that they had been attached to as he strained against them.

Before anyone fully realised what he was doing he broke free from the chins and ropes and leapt at Alucard, slamming bodily into him and bearing him to the ground whereupon he began punching him solidly in the chest. His intentions were pretty clear; he was trying to rip Alucard's heart out, with every strike of his fist you could hear Alucard's rib cage snapping and you could see his chest caving in under the force of the blows. Alucard seemed largely amused by all of this and did little to stop him but for putting up a token resistance.

"Master!" Seras cried and swiftly latched onto Axel; hoping to pull him off, only to have him elbow her in the stomach and send her sliding across the floor.

Integra pulled out a concealed gun (ever since the 'Laura' incident she had taken to ensuring that she was never without one) "Stop this at once or I will fire." Though she was only trying to make sure that he did not attack others in the room such as Walter and herself for she knew that Alucard would be just fine and Seras could take most of what was dished out to her.

Axel proceeded to ignore her and increased the ferocity of his attack as Alucard began to laugh. His chest finally gave way and Axel's fist slipped inside the cavity the collapsed ribs created, burying itself deep within the cold, dead contents of the vampire's torso, surrounded by splintered bones.

With a look of primal triumph in his eyes his hand grasped the un-dead heart he had been searching for, but the elation was short lived as yet again he felt the cold metal of the Casull pressed against him; this time to his stomach rather than the back of his head.

**_I am a true immortal_**. Alucard sneered, though he was talking through telepathy due to his current lack of working ribcage, diaphragm and lungs to carry out the task of verbal communication. **_You can tear out my heart if you like but it will only be a minor, temporary inconvenience, whereas for you a gut shot will put a considerable dent in your life span. You are too human._**

"I told the buxom bitch over there that I was as human as the next man. Well, guess what; the next man turned out to be _you_."

_**But I am no man. Now be a good boy, dhampir, and remove yourself from me. I don't have time to play your games**._ With that said he fell through the floor, leaving a frustrated Axel behind to curse his departure.

"You're lucky that you amused him." Integra told him, still with the gun aimed. "If not we would have been scraping up what was left of you with a shovel. Now, calm down. Don't make me call the guards on you."

"I have every right to rip your bloody head off right now." He growled, his fingers arching into claws against the floor. "And don't you _dare_ tell me to calm down. My self-control if far beyond anything you're ever going to achieve."

"You could have fooled me." Mocked Alucard as he phased through a wall back into the office, with his chest and clothes unmarked and with another contented grin on his face.

"Miss Hellsing, unless you want a blood bath on your hands you'll get your toy hellspawn out of here and keep him far away from me; he is pushing me to my limits." Axel warned, still on his hands and knees with his head down.

"How?" Walter asked, stepping forwards between Axel and Alucard. "To be frank, he has hardly said or done anything to warrant such and attack."

"It isn't the words or actions." Axel aid through gritted teeth. "He's trying to mess with my head and call out my vampiric side. If someone doesn't do something fast he may end up forcing me into a fit of bloodlust and I don't want that."

"Alucard!" Integra's voice reached a new level of annoyance.

"He's nothing I can't handle. I just want to know how powerful his vampire half is; how strong his father was."

"I _told _you, goddamnit, I don't care about my dad."

"If you knew more about your father you would know more about yourself."

"I DON'T CARE!" Axel roared at him. "Get it into your thick skull, you putrid walking corpse! You haven't the foggiest idea what you're doing to me! Fuck off away from me!" he was breathing harshly and every muscle in his body was beginning to tremble as he fought against himself. He refused to give in to the feelings that the crimson garbed nosferatu was provoking in his mind.

Seras, still on the floor, felt her heart go out to him in sympathy for in his tortured face she saw the conflict that she too faced; the two halves of his being fighting for supremacy. Even though for a time she had accepted her vampirism she had eventually returned to her attempts at retaining a sad kind of human life. Without standing she scooted over to him and, much to both his and her own surprise, laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, then to Alucard she pleaded. "Master, _please_ stop it!"

Alucard, however, had no intention of doing so. He sensed something about the half breed child; felt that there might me something worthwhile in his vampiric side. The boy's sheer gall and determination reminded him of Paladin Anderson and if he could somehow awaken the darkness inside him he felt that Axel might become a creature worth the effort of fighting.

"Alucard, I order you as your master to cease this nonsense and leave us until further notice." Integra demanded.

He had no choice but to obey. With a sigh he released the small hold he had on the boy's mind. "Yes, my Master." Then he ambled off the way he came; through the wall.

"It's OK, now. He's gone." Seras said encouragingly.

"Get your hand off me or I'll rip it off and make you eat it."

Seras wanted to hit him. Here she was, willing to forgive and forget and all he could do was hurl more abuse. "There's no reason to be so rude, I was only trying to be nice, even after what you did to me."

Walter came over and helped her up. "Come now, Miss Victoria, he has just had a very troubling experience. He's probably just a little off sorts and is actually very grateful."

"In your dreams." Axel sat up and held his head. "Can I go home now?"

Integra lowered her gun, though still held in his direction, on her lap. "Please try to see this from our point of view, Jaeger. To us you are an uncontrolled teenage boy, running around and killing things in the middle of the night and generally going about things in such a way that you may jeopardise the secrets we are trying to keep from the innocent, ignorant public."

"I won't stop." He said defiantly. "It's what I do."

"You don't _need _to. It is our sworn duty, not yours. We are more skilled in these matters. As they say; leave it to the professionals."

"Doesn't matter. I won't stop."

"Why? You still haven't given me a reason."

"I don't have to give you a reason. Damn, you sound like a friggin' social worker."

"Well, I'm not. I'm just trying to assess the situation. If I'm to decide what is to be done with you I will need an answer to my query."

"Fine." He said and took a minute to stop the last of the shaking before he finally gave her his motive. "I can't just live a human life and pretend I'm something I'm not. I tried that but I just got confused. It's hard to be both but it's even worse to be one or the other. Ignoring my human half will make me hurt the people I give a damn about but neglecting my vampire half only makes the bloodlust stronger and harder to control. Hunting is my way of letting of some demonic steam to keep the monster in me quiet."

"Do…do you drink blood?" Seras asked. He now seemed so small, crouched down on the floor. He looked defeated in some way.

"Sort of." He confessed as he removed the wristband and glove of his right hand, rolled his sleeve over his elbow and held up his arm. It was covered in bite scars, showing bright white against the slight tan of his skin. "The craving just gets too strong sometimes. My mum offered to try and work out a way to get hold of transfusion blood from the hospital or animal blood from a butchers or something…but I won't take the blood of any_thing_ or any_one_ else, I won't even eat rare steak, I won't give in. I refuse to be that weak." He suddenly gave a soft laugh and stared nostalgically at the wall. "Heh, Theo always used to make jokes about the funny noises he's hear me making in the bathroom even though he knew what I was doing. More than once he said I could take _his_ blood…said it would be alright because we were family…I didn't…" his words trailed off into silence.

"Jaeger." Integra addressed him to pull him out of the fog of the past. "If the reason you do your hunting is to keep yourself in check and ensure that you do not loose control then I cannot force you to stop. However, neither can I put the safety and secrecy of the _Hellsing_ organisation at risk."

There was an awkward silence in which Seras began to chew her lip and Walter began to fidget…both out of anticipation and nervousness.

"Therefore," Integra continued, "I have no choice but to offer you work here."

Axel finally looked up and locked eyes with her. "Eh?"

"Of course you would be free to continue your daily life at your own home but instead of running off on rogue missions to satisfy your vampiric needs you would be allotted appropriate assignments by me."

"What's the catch?"

"You will have to learn to get along with our resident vampires as you would more than likely be working alongside them."

He fell silent.

"There is something else that I don't understand about you; why do you seem to _hate_ vampires if the only reason you hunt them is as a release mechanism of sorts."

"For the same reason you hate them; they're scum. They ruin people's lives and don't belong here. A vampire raped my mum, made me a fucking hybrid monster, lost my brother his dad and stole his life, vampires screwed up everything."

"I can understand that but still; not attempting to kill your co-workers will be part of the deal."

There was another awkward silence. "Alright." He said quietly. "But only if you make sure that Mr. tall, dark and gruesome stays out of my head."

"Agreed." Integra rose from her seat and holstered her gun. "This isn't the place to discuss further arrangements nor the time. There are things that I must urgently see to. Tomorrow will be better. Now, I can either have someone drive you home and pick you up in the morning or you are welcome to stay here."

"I'd best get home; I'm gonna need to talk to my mum about all this." He stood up. "Can I have my stuff and Mishka back now?"

"Of course. Seras, will you please bring Jaeger's belongings and release his dog from wherever you seem to have squirreled them away."

"Yes, Sir." She said with a habitual salute and hurried off, wondering if the husky was awake and, if so, whether or not it would try to kill her again.

As she jogged purposefully down the hall she found Alucard leaning nonchalantly against a wall with his arms crossed and hat shading his eyes. He was turning his sun glasses over in one hand.

She paused before him. "Master, that was a cruel thing to do."

"I was only encouraging what should come naturally to him." he said, defending his actions.

"It only comes naturally to part of him, the rest is human and you have no right to try and force him to be something he doesn't want to be."

"You seem to be forming some kind of attachment to him, Police Girl."

"I am not!"

"Remember that you chose to turn to the shadows and you accepted what that would entail so don't pass any regret you have into a protective mothering of the dhampir. He's no more human than you are. He's just a vampire with a heartbeat and delusions of a pathetic humanity that he never had in the first place."

"Well that's not what he believes. He controls his vampire half-"

"He keeps it caged inside like an animal." He interrupted, closing his fist around his orange tinted shades and nearly breaking them in the process. "And even when he allows himself to let it out he keeps it on a short lead. He is denying himself a vital part of his being. He needs to learn to let go."

"You were listening weren't you?"

"Yes. He needs to choose."

"Choose what, Master?"

"Dhampir's, as I said before, rarely survive into adulthood. Though it seems too hard for him he must allow one side to become fully dominant. He must sacrifice part of himself or her will tear himself apart trying to satisfy all of his needs and desires from both halves of his nature. Humans and vampires cannot co-exist on the same planet let alone in the same body and mind. You should know that."

"Well if he does choose you should let him do it in his own time, you shouldn't force him."

"I caught a glimpse into his mind, Police Girl, and what I saw in there was that his internal war is reaching its peak. Unless he does something soon he is likely to either commit suicide or go mad, possibly even developing a kind of Jekyll and Hyde personality. Either he will kill himself or we will have to kill him once he has broken. Do you want that?"

"No." she admitted. Axel have been given a bad lot in life from the start and she couldn't bring herself to hate him for only being a confused, lost young man in a world set against him. _She_ had been given the choice but he had never had that luxury, it had been forced upon him and his family like a slow spreading cancer that would eventually consume all parts of the peace he had forged and struggled so hard to maintain. "We should inform Sir Integra so she can have a talk with him about it."

"No, that won't work; she would never accept it not consent to it happening."

"Why not? If it's as serious as you say then surely-"

He stopped her with a single raised hand. "Police Girl, there is only one side that the dhampir may choose without causing greater conflict and that is his vampiric side."

"What! How!" What was he thinking! She just couldn't understand it…why _must _he choose his vampiric half? "That's not right!"

"I can justify it." He said, toying with his shades again and checking they were not broken. "If he chooses his human side fully his vampiric instincts will just grow and grow until he snaps and looses what little control he may have had. But if he chooses to turn fully to the darkness and become a true vampire he can learn to guide his instincts, just like I have. I am not a slave to my desires; I just happen to enjoy fulfilling them. He doesn't have to in the end but he must accept vampirism first."

No matter how many times she ran his words through her head Seras could find no fault…but still…she refused to believe it. "I have to fetch his things." She told him to excuse herself and moved on down the hall.

Alucard watched her go.

**_It's up to us, Police Girl, we must help him make the choice; the right choice. _**He called to her mind.

When she turned to reply, he was gone.

"You've no right to force him." she told the empty hall and opened the door to the room Mishka was held in.

-

At the same time that Axel was being driven home, Integra was pawing through a brand new report.

This one was very intriguing as it was about the Hunters. A few _Hellsing _soldiers had covertly followed a Hunter back to a kind of meeting place in the ground floor of an abandoned tower car park where at least twenty of them were gathered.

The soldiers reported witnessing one terrified Hunter being dragged over and tied to one of the load bearing concrete pylons supporting the floor above by two of his fellows. A third then proceeded to cut out the wretched things heart and then stab the disembodied organ with a wicked looking knife. Once it was over the crowd dispersed and left, the heart was placed in a wooden box and taken away but the dust of the Hunter's body was left behind…apparently the heart was not seen to turn to dust and even though the men were a distance away they had clearly been able to see that the heart had been a glossy black rather than the matt red-brown it should have been.

It was all very strange.

"Alucard." She called evenly.

The vampire in question obediently appeared, this time minus the shades, which were presently hidden about his person, and again the room shrank with him becoming the focal point. "Master?"

"What do you make of this?" She passed him the report and he flicked through it, taking in as much as he could from the pages as they blurred past and from Integra's own thoughts.

"I've not heard or seen anything like it before." He admitted with a shrug.

"In all your years you've never even known anything even vaguely similar?" she asked, just to clarify.

He nodded and took off his hat, allowing his unruly mop of thick black hair to frame his face. "In this matter I must confess that I know as little as you."

"There is also _this. _This symbol has started appearing on walls all over London." She held up a photograph of a brick wall emblazoned with a painted image of a black heart bearing two cruel goat-like eyes at its centre. "There seems to be no pattern to their placement. The police are, for now, putting it down to a new gang or religious cult. So far I too had thought the latter but after this Hunter execution incident it seems that this heart symbol may well be linked to them as they began appearing not long after the first Freaks began to be kidnapped."

"Interesting…" Alucard purred as he inspected the photo she held. "It seems that your soldier boys are getting no closer to useful answers."

"Unfortunately, you are correct. So, a new course of action needs to be sought."

"And what might that entail?"

"That, I am still deciding but for now I think I need a talk with Jaeger. From what was reported some time ago about the 'message' he left in the mausoleum meeting place we can presume that he may know something of value…and we need all the information we can get."

"Are you sure that allowing him to be a part of the _Hellsing _organisation is such a good idea?" he just had to ask.

Integra wasn't surprised that he knew about her decision for she hadn't really expected him to go far after she had ordered him away. "It was the only available option at such short notice. You heard my reasoning; no doubt, do you have a problem with it? I know that he did attempt to kill you but don't expect any sympathy as it was your own fault that he was pushed that far."

"He is a _dhampir, _an accident waiting to happen; a disaster made of flesh and tainted blood."

"It was all that could be done. I'm open to better suggestions."

"Well, if he is to be a _Hellsing _member I would like to be able to make my own investigation into his father's identity. No one has been able to analyse dhampir's but it is common that they acquire powers the same as their vampiric parent. If he doesn't know how to use such abilities properly…well, just think about it." he let Integra's own mind conjure up the consequences of a teenage boy struggling with possible health disorders alongside uncontrolled vampiric powers and a fragile state-of-mind.

"I suppose it might help…alright, you have my permission; though I know damn well that even without it you would go ahead regardless. Just remember that this is not to interfere with any missions you should receive."

"Of course." He said with a respectful bow of his head, but the action was purely for show. "Is there anything else?"

"For now, no…oh, actually there is _one_ other thing."

He waited expectantly and replaced the hat.

"I suppose that you would like to be present when I question Jaeger over the Hunters tomorrow."

He nodded and fished around the inside of his coat for his shades.

"So long as he does not mind I have no qualms with you attending, however, if you step out of line around him I will personally ensure that you will regret it. You seem convinced that he is some terrible danger, so heed your own words and don't get him worked up. Do I make myself clear, Alucard?"

"Oh, completely transparent, Master." And with that he vanished from sight.

"One day." She told herself out loud as the cold wave of air he left behind where his presence had previously been filling it warmed again. "I'll _make_ him use the door."

To be continued……… 

**_Author's Note – Again, thank you for the reviews. I hope you continue to enjoy reading this. I will aim to finish it though it may take alot of chapters to get there._**

_**Think it's worth the effort?**_

_**I'll apologise for it being so OC based at the moment; I just want to get the new characters established before I plough on with the actual plot. Just bear with me and pleaselet me know what you think.**_


	4. P 04: To Make Arrangements

Part Four: To Make Arrangements

It was still there…the thick, intense taste of the dhampir's blood still stung in his mouth…the soft, sweet innocence of the boy's human half and the bitter, dark flavour of his vampire side, leaving Alucard undecided as to whether the sensation was pleasurable or revolting.

If anything else it was definitely _unique._

Unbeknownst to many vampires, Freak or otherwise, blood sometimes contained the memories of a persons lineage, but only if the emotions of the events were significant enough to leave their mark.

It never worked if trying to find an un-dead's sire, but seeing as how the vampire was Axel's true biological father, Alucard figured there was a chance that there might be something left that he could find. He would have to give the task his full, unrivalled attention and concentration as once blood left it's intended vessel it rapidly lost all links to the past and as he had _ingested _it, he had even less time.

The calmest area that he could find turned out to be the roof of the Hellsing manor; no one could get up there without an extensive ladder network or magical abilities.

He knew that it would be hard and he wasn't even sure if it would work at all, it might already be too late to extract anything of worth from the red liquid presently occupying his stomach. He hunkered down, pressing his back against a chimney stack and sitting himself on the numbingly cold slates. His coat did little to halt the feel of the freezing plates of stone seeping into his already deathly cold skin.

Closing his eyes and senses to prevent all external distractions he focused on the blood within his body that was not his own.

Somewhere in London, deep underground, somewhere safe and quiet and away from sight and sound, a middle aged woman went about her duties as she had done for years on end.

The cavern was damp; the air thick with moisture, the walls littered with fungus and slime mould as well simple, tribal imagery made of powders and paints from long, long ago.

The woman wore simple attire, sensible shoes and her hair was drawn into a tight bun. She checked the fob watch pinned to her pinafore and then stepped over to a lake of stagnating water.

The surface rolled and small black shapes could be seen within the lake. Angry red eyes glowered at her from the shapes…yet there was tenderness in the evil gaze.

She dipped a finger into the liquid and felt the smooth creatures sliding against her skin.

"We're so close." She said.

Alucard firmly closed his eyes. He had to go back, back as far as it would take him. To the very root of the first memory…the first emotions of Axel's unknown father strong enough to be preserved within the blood.

_Fear_. That was the very first thing; intense, undeniable fear. He couldn't read why but it was most definitely there. The fear he had discovered was so overpowering that Alucard began to feel his own hands trembling and a sickened sensation fluttering in the pit of his stomach.

Something terrible had happened in the life of Axel's father and it was heralded by pain – stinging pain like that of thousands of tiny hooked claws and the strong scent of…flowers?

"What does it mean?" he whispered to himself and ploughed on through the murky contents.

_Misery_. That was the only other emotion that had survived the passage of time and it wasn't your average, mundane kind of depression you got from a particularly bad day at work, this was the kind of soul crushing misery that drove the strongest of creatures to insanity and self annihilation.

He had to leave it there. He let go of what he had touched upon before it completely took him over. The emotions faded away and he regained his own self. For a moment he could have sworn that he had felt his mind slipping away and was being replaced by the emotions from the blood. He opened his eyes and saw a thin, bright glow on the horizon.

"Daybreak?" He asked himself. Had he fallen asleep? Or unconscious? It had felt to him as though the blood reading had only spanned a few minute in total but it must have actually taken _hours_.

Hours, a few short hours of the wretchedness experienced over an eternity.

And still he knew nothing that he could put to use.

The light glared on the glass of his shades as he retreated back into the manor. It was time to rest and reflect until Axel's questioning in a few hours more. His coffin awaited.

Around twelve of that bright, new day a car pulled up into the expansive _Hellsing _driveway and the two back doors opened to allow the arrival of its passengers; Axel and Linda Jaeger. Though it was only Axel's presence that had been requested, Linda had flatly refused to let him go unless she could go with him and see just what her son had gotten himself into. The plain clothed _Hellsing _soldier sent to collect the boy had tried to convince her that she really didn't need to come but she had argued her point and had gone so far as to threaten to brain the poor man with the closest blunt object she could find unless he agreed to take her to meet Sir Hellsing as well.

Linda quite obviously was not happy about Axel's new arrangement; her scowl explained that. She hadn't bothered to change into anything more formal, she wore plain grey trousers, a pale blue t-shirt, trainers and had her dark brown hair kept out of her face with a white head band. Axel wore the same as before but was minus all of the weaponry and yet again Mishka padded faithfully beside him…which was odd as a husky is a rather independent animal.

Walter was the one who met them at the door with a surprised expression. "…Ms Jaeger…?"

"Do you honestly think I'd let him work out all of this alone?" she asked in a huff. "He couldn't arrange a takeaway without help."

"Mum!" Axel exclaimed. "Hey, I ordered pizza last week, remember?"

"Yes dear, and you forgot the garlic bread."

"Minor details. Don't even like garlic bread that much."

"Plus, I am his mother and have every right to know what the hell he is getting up to especially when it concerns his safety and his very life."

"Mum, do I look five years old!"

"No, but that isn't going to stop me, so be quiet and get used to it."

"Well…" Walter considered what he should do. "Uh…this way please; Director Hellsing is waiting."

Well what else could he do? He couldn't refuse the boys own mother. Just as she had said; the work here at _Hellsing_ could put his life at risk (thought it was a small 'could' as Axel was perfectly capable of taking care of himself). What mother _wouldn't _want to present at a time such as this?

The mother and son followed Walter up to Integra's office where she had been impatiently waiting; she wanted to get this over and done with as quickly as possible to prevent anything going to wrong. She was hoping to get most of it finished before Alucard realised the boy was here.

As they walked through the door she eyed Linda critically; she could make things difficult. It wasn't that she specifically didn't want the woman there, but it didn't look good when one of her orders wasn't carried out to the letter.

Integra stood up, ready to be the perfect host as she had been so strenuously taught, and greeted them but Linda didn't even giver her time to offer her hand let alone open her mouth.

"Ok, we're here, so tell me what the hell is happening. Last night Axel runs off before he can eat because he says he found a vampire in his shed when he went back to lock up. He says he'll only take a few minutes clearing it up but actually takes three hours. He gets dropped back by some stranger; he has a rip in his head, blood matting his hair and a very dazed pet. He then tells me that he seems to have picked up a job with the _Hellsing _organisation; an outfit I have heard far too much about from him recently and not all of it good."

Integra was slightly taken aback buck maintained her composure. "I know that this must seem terribly sudden, but please believe me when I say that this is just as much of a surprise to us as it is to you. Walter, would you please have another chair brought in."

"Of course." Walter bowed formally, left and then returned with the requested seat which was placed next to the one that had already been put before the desk. The seats were sat upon and Mishka made good use of the floor.

"The reason this arrangement is taking place," Integra began as soon as her two guests were settled, "is because your son's actions are beginning to draw unwanted attention to the vampire and demon communities and thus putting our secrecy at high risk. The fiasco at the Tower of London was bad enough. I understand his reasons for doing the things he does and so I have offered him a place here so that we may ensure both our safety and his."

"Sounds like a plan." Linda seemed to approve.

"I'm glad that you agree." Integra said earnestly and then turned to Axel. "So, although your mother will want to help in this it is _you_ that will need to make the arrangements with as it is you who will have to live with them."

Axel nodded. "Well what did you have in mind?"

"What time do you actually have? I realise that we will need to arrange your work around your school time and social life."

"I'm at sixth form Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays…oh, and I have no social life."

"Well there's a lie if ever I heard one." Linda scoffed. "Why do you always put yourself down?"

He turned his head. "Mum, there are people that I talk to but I don't have actual friends."

"Well what about Susanna; she's been your friend since nursery."

"Oh…well…we had a…a disagreement."

"For crying out loud, you are so childish sometimes." He mother shook her head.

"So." Integra launched back into speech to catch some wandering attention from the pair of them. "How many days are you willing to work out of the four you have free…we'll discuss holidays as they come."

"Three." He said without a thought. "Day four is for sleeping."

Integra raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, may as well do something useful with myself, eh?" by his expression Integra judged that he didn't really care.

"That should be easy enough. On those days you will be down here. Missions may not always fall on those days in the end but there is generally something to be done and it would be best if you were here all the same. Also, some training may be in order. You may be skilled but there is always room for improvement."

"Sure, whatever."

Linda fidgeted uncomfortably on her chair and Integra got the feeling that there was something she wanted to say.

"Ms Jaeger?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing." She said and absently picked at the neck of her top.

"Is something bothering you?" Integra rephrased the question I the hope that it would call out an answer.

Linda focused on her son and made sure he noticed. "Axel, would you please leave the room for a minute; I'd like a private word with Ms Hellsing."

"Oh god, here it comes; the 'mother' talk, beware, beware." He called out in a false childish ghost voice and wandered off with Mishka in tow and a final 'beware' as he went out the door and closed it firmly behind him.

"He's such a kid." His mother sighed.

Integra was not best pleased with the way Linda seemed to be taking control but could understand it and so let it pass again. "What did you want to say?"

"Thank you, I suppose." Linda said as she pulled off her head band with one hand and brushing her hair back with the fingers of the other.

"And what for, may I ask?"

"For giving Axel this chance; I worry so much about him and what he does, so knowing that he'll be properly supervised and dealt with makes me feel I can have some room to breathe at last. Every time he goes out the door at night I expect to get a phone call room the police saying that he's dead or he's killed an innocent person or someone's discovered what he is and has put him in a lab. I feel better for knowing that he's with people who can understand and help with his…his _differences_."

"I suppose it must have been hard bringing him up and quite shock to discover he wasn't human."

"You have no idea…though I knew that he wouldn't be totally human."

"You knew what his father was then?"

"Yes…" she gave a small shudder. "I can still remember his eyes, they were blood red…I would have thought that they were contacts but I just _knew_…I can't explain it any other way."

"You don't need to."

"It's hard enough working out how to raise an average kid, let alone one with special needs. But still, I wouldn't have him any other way. I'll always love him."

"How did you cope with Axel's 'special needs'?" it was an intriguing way of putting it.

"One day at a time, we both learn as we go along." She unconsciously pulled a gold chain necklace out from her t-shirt and began to twist the pendant part between her fingers. Integra caught a glimpse of two very smooth, white, pointed and seemingly enamel covered objects.

"Um…are they what I think they are." She asked, indicating.

"What? Oh…" Linda hadn't realised she had begun to fidget. She opened her hand. Hanging from the delicate chain by two tiny gold loops were two minute lengthened canine teeth. She smiled and looked down at them fondly, cradled in her palm. "Yes. These are Axel's baby fangs. He was so upset when his adult fangs grew through because he had thought that he would get normal teeth…when he was little he wished so hard that he would grow out of his differences. Heh, it was quite funny when these fell out actually; he refused to put them under his pillow because he said that they would scare the tooth fairy away."

Integra couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Axel at even that age worrying about giving the tooth fairy a fright…but then again when you are a young dhampir in a world that expects you to be only a myth it must be hard _not_ to believe things. Linda must have had a tough time telling him there was no Father Christmas.

"Didn't the dentist or doctor ever say anything?"

"No, never. I suppose that's because vampires, in a basic sense, are mythical, magical entities, it doesn't show up in a way that can be scientifically shown…plus, I never allow him to take blood tests, just to make sure. The dentist can be fun though."

"Why's that?" Integra was quite genuinely enjoying the conversation. It wasn't often that she could talk so casually with a normal person about work related matters, i.e. – vampires.

"Every time Axel goes up there the dentist wants to file his canines down, he say's they're too sharp and will cut his tongue. Axel isn't too keen on the idea. He tells the dentist that it's because he thinks they look cool and have never caused him trouble but it's really because he doesn't see the point in trying to fool himself by hiding what he is. He used to get bullied about his teeth in primary school and because he has a habit of growling when he's bored. He does that even now; he doesn't realise until it's pointed out."

"Why did you send him out if all you wanted to say was thank you?"

"Because he would have gotten embarrassed and he doesn't need to know how much I worry; he has enough on his plate as it is."

After a few more minutes of pointless chatter, Axel was called back in to polish off the arrangement.

It was eventually agreed that Saturday would be his day off and that he would stay over at the Hellsing house Sunday to Monday as he was working both days in succession there. Integra had said that he could take the Sunday off so he would never have to spend two days in a row working for her but he had said that he might well be needed as vampires were not religiously inclined creatures and did not rest on the Sabbath day…if anything they became more active as if to spite god and the faithful people that hunted them.

At this point Linda said her goodbyes and was taken home along with Mishka as the rest of the day was 'business matters', what with it being Wednesday and his first full and proper day at _Hellsing_. There were some things to prepare…as well as Hunters and hearts to talk about.

Integra shuffled papers about her desk until she found the photo and the report she was looking for; the ones she had shown Alucard the previous night. Oh…Alucard…he had wanted to be there, hadn't he…

"Axel, do you mind if Alucard is present as this may well concern him as well as you to a degree."

"Whatever, just keep him out of my head and don't let him touch me. If he does I'll go spare and furniture will get broken."

"Yes, of course. Alucard!"

An invisible blast of cold air announced that he had arrived. "Hello, dhampir."

"Hello, shit-for-brains."

"Well, there's nice." Alucard said as he crossed the room and seated himself in the chair that Linda had left.

"Any closer and I'll skin you." Axel refused to look at him and fixed his gaze firmly on his new boss. "You were going to ask something?"

"Yes." she passed over the report and photo she had been holding. "Does this mean anything to you?"

"Hnh, it has something to do with the Freaks; I know that much, if that's any help to you."

"Unfortunately we already knew that. Is there _anything _else at all that you know. When you left that Freak female in the mausoleum meeting place not so long ago it seemed that you must have known something more."

"That was the whole point; it was to make these new gang-Freaks think that I'm on to them…I figured that if they thought I knew something vital they would panic and slip up in some way. Turns out that they're a little too organised for that."

"Also, _Hellsing_ cleared the mausoleum before that meeting could take place." Integra told him.

"Oh…shit." He looked rather annoyed. "Never mind then. No bloody wonder they didn't seem to care."

Alucard frowned. "You are holding back on something." He said. He had been trying to read Axel's mind but just as the last time the dhampir's repressed instincts were getting in the way. It was extremely annoying as he was so used to the people around him having their minds wide open and their thoughts easily accessible. Like with the blood reading, Alucard could only grasp a few odd hints of what was going on in the big picture of the boy's brain; a few strong emotions that were too glaringly obvious to be concealed.

Axel's head whipped around and shot him a look of contempt so cold it could have frozen alcohol "Try to dive in my head one more time and I swear I'm gonna stick my boot so far up your arse you'll be burping leather."

"I must say that you use some quite inventive threats. Although you use them far too frequently; use them less and they would have more impact." Alucard advised with the return of his grin. Axel was quite fun to annoy, and it didn't take a lot, and Integra couldn't blame him because he hadn't strictly done anything 'wrong' this time. All he had done was pick up on some stray emotions that had passed his way. He hadn't done any invading. "But that aside; what are you not telling us." He tilted his head down to look at Axel over the top of his shades.

"It's nothing really…just something that I noticed…it's like the gang-Freaks have been brainwashed or something…they don't act like vampires at all."

"Really?" Integra asked. No one in _Hellsing _had managed to get near enough to them to notice something like that. They knew of them but not about them.

"Yeah. They don't even seem to be interested in blood." Axel said as he waved the photo he had been handed theatrically.

"Freaks not interested in blood?" Integra just had to air her surprise.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"And you think they were…what…brainwashed?" _Can you even do that? Brainwash the un-dead?_

"Well what else?"

"How exactly do you know that they acted different, though? How would you be able to tell unless you actually knew one of them?"

"I sort of did at the time. I was using this Freak the other week to try and do some info gathering for me. I promised him I'd let him live if he did me a favour…fat chance…anyways, I told him to try and get in with the gang-Freaks-"

"We tend to call them 'Hunters'."

"Whatever…I sent him off on his way and then figured I'd follow him just to check he wouldn't try to weasel out. He found the gang-Fr…err…Hunters, or should I say _they_ found _him_ and then they grabbed the little bastard and dragged him away kicking and screaming. I lost sight of them and then the next time I see my little Freak he's out in one of the hunting parties and was repeating what had been done to him to other Freaks with the other Hunters as though he had been doing it all his life. Un-life. I can't think of any other explanation except brainwashing. I confronted him and he didn't even remember me. I killed him; his chip is in a jar in my shed somewhere. I was hoping there would be something different about it or something else nice and obvious but as there wasn't so brainwashing is all I can come up with to explain it."

"It's a place to start." Integra sighed. She had really been hoping for a breakthrough and that he had been able to discover more than they. "Is there anything you would like to add or ask, Alucard?"

The vampire pushed his shades back up the bridge of his nose with the index and middle fingers of one hand. "No." he said simply.

"Do _you_ have any questions, Axel?"

"Uh…do I have to wear a uniform? It's just that I'm comfortable in this lot; this is what I usually wear when I go _out_ and I just wouldn't feel right in a military getup."

"The uniform I think we can negate but you will be required to at least wear the _Hellsing _crest if only to ensure others that you are one of us."

"Sure. I just don't want to dress like a soldier when I'm only playing at war games for the sake of my sanity. So…what am I supposed to be doing now?"

"At some point you'll need to talk to a man about a real gun; the weapons you have may have served you well but they are neither reliable nor efficient enough. A spear gun was never designed for out-of-water use and crow bars usually only come under the 'spur of the moment' and the 'all there was to hand' weapon categories."

He shrugged. "Gets the job done…and anyway, I told you; I hunt and kill to let off aggression and instinct so the more physical a fight is the better it is for me. I only ever use the spear gun to slow the evil buggers' down, not to finish them off."

"Ah…" she'd forgotten about that…this was going to be a little harder that she had originally thought. Damn Alucard for forcing this to happen so fast. The whole point of the proud _Hellsing_ organisation was to eradicate the hellish threats to queen, country and human kind in general, thus making speed and thoroughness their top priority. Axel was a different story altogether; he needed the thrill of the chase and the brutal passion of the bloody kill to satisfy his unholy desires and keep his inner demons at bay. It was such a pity that he hated Alucard so much; they probably could have gotten along famously. She was just going to have to see how things turned out and take each day as it came.

She took the photograph back and slotted it into the file it belonged with. "I feel that some weapons training is in order before any real work can begin."

"Training? Hey, I'm fine on the weapons handling front." He made a finger-gun with his right hand and pretended to aim at Alucard. "You just point and click. Like taking a picture. Simple. Same as the spear gun"

"It isn't that easy." Alucard sniffed; he hated people who over simplified what he had been perfecting over so many years.

"Works for me, shame you find it so difficult after waving those pistols around for so long."

Integra gave an inward prayer. This was only the first day, so how was she going to control the vampire and the dhampir from here on out? she got the distinct and uncomfortable feeling that it was going to be like having two spoilt children around…with Alucard possibly being the worst of the two…and she just hoped that the perpetual good natured happiness that Seras managed to push into every situation could keep the peace between them even if Axel wasn't overly keen on the whole idea.

Was is really safe to put a military bullet firing weapon in the boy's hands? He was dangerous enough with the make-shift armoury that he already possessed so would it just be like pouring petrol on flames?

"Ms Hellsing?" Axel asked.

"_Sir._" Alucard corrected.

When Integra looked at Axel his eyes seemed very distant. Even though he always looked as though he was looking into you rather than at you, this time she got the feeling that even though his eyes were tracked in her direction he was actually seeing nothing at all. "Yes?"

"You've heard my purpose for death and destruction so now tell me yours; why do _you_, a human, hunt those that live in the shadows?"

For a moment she was slightly dumbfounded. "What kind of question is that to ask when you answered it yourself only yesterday; my duty is to protect humanity from monsters and to eradicate them all like the vermin that they are…present company excepted, of course."

Axel suddenly burst out laughing as though she had said the funniest thing he had heard all year.

"What's so amusing?"

"That's your _reason _for doing it but what is the purpose? My reason is that I hate vampires and also want to keep people safe but the purpose is to keep me out of madness."

"I told you; to protect-"

He cut her off. "They can do that themselves if they have to. I mean your _personal _purpose, what purpose does it serve _you_? Humans are selfish creatures to the core no matter what front they put up; so what is in it for you? It's not for your own protection because it's your actions that cause hell spawn to come to you. If you had led an ignorant life you would die an old woman never having laid eye on so much as an imp."

"This is ridiculous." She snapped. "What in god's name are you talking about?" The far away look was now replaced by a stare almost ophidian in its intensity and she did indeed feel like a rabbit mesmerised by a snake. The room seemed to shrink even more than it already had and this time it wasn't Alucard as the focus point.

"Is it the power?" Axel rose from his seat and began to lean over the desk. He heard Alucard draw and level one of his guns at him but ignored it. "Do you need to be in control? Do you hunger for the feeling of having lives of others hanging in the balance from your every order and whim? Do you enjoy it? Are these your games; do they make you feel good?"

"Sit down, Jaeger; that is an order."

"Dominatrix. Do you have any idea how close to a vampire it makes you? Come on; admit it." Axel grinned. The grin was then choked away as he was snatched up roughly by the back of his collar, hauled from the desk and tossed to the floor by Alucard. This time it was the dark metalled Jackal that was aimed straight at his head rather than the Casull. Alucard did not have the same strange humour about him that he had had before and he too could feel the change in the air that seemed to signify a growing power in Axel. Although he wanted to be able to see it he could not have Integra in danger. It was fine when Axel aimed his hatred at _him_ but not at her.

"I do not like the way you are talking to my Master." He warned.

The dhampir sat up but didn't say anything more. He closed one eye and peered at the ceiling with the other. He then seemed to whisper to himself…he seemed to reach a conclusion, both eyes opened and tracked back to Integra. "Sorry." He said simply. "Sometimes I just forget myself. I promise not to let that happen again…it usually only happens when I'm stressed anyway…it's probably _him_ that set me off, I get all tense around vampires." He jerked his thumb at Alucard.

Integra motioned for Alucard to lower the weapon and though he did he silently refused to holster it or to take his finger off the trigger.

"Right, perhaps it's time we started you on that training. Alucard, take him down to the test range and put him in with the rest of the new squad. We'll see how good his aim is and if he can handle a real gun."

Axel got to his feet and then followed Alucard out of the door.

Out in the hall, just as the office door clicked closed behind them Alucard's sensitive hearing caught a whisper from his master.

"Alucard, keep an eye on Jaeger but don't interfere unless he becomes too dangerous for others to handle."

_**Of course, Master, it would be a pleasure.**_

To be continued…

_Author's Note – Well, that's Chap 4 done with. Let me know if it's worth the effort of continuing. Please. (Insert puppy eyes here). Hopefully I will have the will to continue and I'm sorry the updates take so long. I wish I had more to say…I hope you'll carry on enjoying this fic…I have plans for it. Just hang in there._


	5. P 05: Into the Swing of Things

Part Five: Into the Swing of Things

While Alucard and Axel were gone, Integra had matters of her own to see to; a little research based around the black heart 'tag'.

Every book in the library containing the histories and legacies surrounding symbols and markings throughout recorded time had been pulled out and now were strewn over one large table. She had gone cross-eyed looking through them all but she was still no closer to deciphering what on earth, or in hell, the tag could mean to the Hunters.

Well at least she had a new lead of sorts and an idea of how to go about gaining 'inside information'. If Axel had managed to bully a Freak into work before then perhaps he could do it again, this time for _Hellsing_, and this time be prepared for the kidnapping. They could use the Freak as bait and then hopefully capture a Hunter…the rest should then just fall into place.

So much effort for something that was not causing any real harm; the only true problem with the situation was that it was a mystery and she was not fond of them. She wanted it put to an end before it suddenly flourished into a major disaster.

But then again…she could say the very same about Axel. Was Alucard right? Was the boy a living time bomb waiting to explode and transform into some kind of beast of dark fury and sick desires? He already freely admitted he was part way there.

She started closing up the dusty volumes and piling them up to be taken back to their proper shelves.

Footsteps thumped along the polished floor behind her and came to a halt at her side by the table.

"No luck?" Walter asked and joined her with the clearing up.

"None whatsoever." She sighed. "You?"

"Same." He told her apologetically. "I just cannot believe that the entire Internet held nothing about it. I tried to see if the one image could be made of meaningful sections."

"And did that work at all?" she asked, flipping the cover of another book shut.

"Not really. Black is seen as a colour to characterize evil so a black heart could possibly signify the root of something evil…a new kind of evil, perhaps, shown by using modern day graffiti tagging. Also, red is sometimes used to show evil…though it's lucky in China, here in the west it is associated with things such as blood, pain, anger et cetera. The pupils of the eyes, as you know, are horizontal slits, which make them look very similar to a goat's. Goats are sometimes associated with the devil…but the most usual way to represent it is through the pentagram."

"All of that could mean everything or nothing. Pictures are made of individual parts but by breaking up the components of an image you may lose the whole picture." She demonstrated this by covering up parts of an engraving in one of the books. Between her hands she showed Walter a print of a smiling young girl. "Just a happy child." She said and then lifted her hands revealing the blood stained butchers knife the girl had been holding and the scene of horrific massacre behind her. "And now she is a cold blooded psychopathic murderess."

Walter took the book and closed it. "Or she is the sole survivor after defending herself and is glad to be alive."

"Exactly my point. Without the footnote you wouldn't know for sure." she picked up the copy of the tag photo and shook it in an annoyed manner. "We need a footnote for this _damnable _thing."

Walter held a hand out. "The Hunters are not _Hellsing_'s only problem, Sir Integra. There are still vampires, Freaks and their ghouls and there are still other mythical phenomena and hell beasts to neutralise. Leave the research to me and give your concentration to other things. I get the feeling that it will be a long time before the Hunters are done with and have revealed all of their secrets and you mustn't allow _Hellsing _to grind to a halt because of them."

Integra nodded glumly and relinquished the photocopy. "Yes. We do still need to stop the Freak production, among other things."

"Go to it then. I'll finish up here."

"Thank you."

Integra moved to the next task ahead of her that waited, as always, upon her desk amidst the records of that which had been occupying her thoughts for so long.

The tall backed, green leather, executive chair creaked in the way that only leather can as she leaned into it and let her gaze brush over what needed to be brought to her attention. So what was first on the list of things to kill?

"Hmm." The first to catch her eye was an odd one indeed; hand written on standard A4 lined paper rather than the almost obligatory crest headed reports. It seemed to be a request for an investigation from a member of _Hellsing_…most likely a soldier as it had been left unsigned. It must have been placed on her desk personally or Walter would have disposed of it. Anonymous requests did not get far and it was not _Hellsing_'s place to investigate anything; that was left to outfits like MI5. _Hellsing_ dealt with the clean up, not really the discovery. Though sometimes things just couldn't be waited for and the initiative had to be taken. The letter was something about unfortunate child deaths in a hospital. The young daughter of the _Hellsing _soldier (presumably) was currently staying in the paediatric ward of Lewisham hospital from an asthma attack and had told her father that the children in the ward had been dying of illnesses that should have easily been cured. The medicines seemed to have no affect and it was as though the children hadn't been given any at all. The doctors couldn't explain it but were still doing all they could.

Integra would have banished the letter to the waste paper bin but the next bit struck a memory…a memory of a page in a book…for the daughter claimed that every child that had died had spoken, if they could, of a white bird that had visited them in the night.

"A white bird?" _White bird…white bird…white bird._ She repeated the same two words over and over again in her head as she leapt from her seat and tore back down to the library with the letter clutched in her hand. A few guards were convinced something must have been chasing her as it is a rare time when Integra will break into a jog let alone a full run and so conducted a pointless search of the house while she ploughed on back into the library.

"Sir Integra, I said that I would deal with it." Walter said as he turned to her with books piled in his hands. "Why were you running?"

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed and snatched a book from the shelf after counting many away with her fingers.

"Sir, what are you looking for?"

"Read this." The letter exchanged hands.

Walter peered. "White bird…why, it's almost like-"

"Yes." she interrupted and held up the book; indicating an almost medieval style painting of a sick man with an albino bird perched on the end of the bed he was lying in. "The Caladrius; a supernatural bird of the Middle Ages said to foretell the outcome of an illness depending on whether it looked _at _or _away _from the sick person and that it could take the sickness out of people if it did look at them."

"So…you think the Caladrius is in the children's ward of the hospital and it is refusing to take the children's illnesses? Sir Integra, are you serious? It's an ancient myth…and since when has it been _Hellsing_'s place to lead investigations?"

"Vampires are myths too, Walter." She reminded him. "You did say that it is our job, also, to deal with mythological phenomena and _Hellsing _will do what I say it should be capable of doing. I know how insane it must sound, believe me. I have my doubts too…but that is what it sounds like and after everything I have lived through and seen with my own two eyes I cannot just ignore the possibility, especially when there are children's lives in the balance. I'm going to have it investigated, if only for one night."

"How is that possible? _Hellsing_ has no authority within state medical institutions, and we can't send a military team into a paediatrics ward. We'd give people heart attacks."

Integra snapped the book closed, tucked it under one arm and plucked the letter out from Walter's fingers before retreating back to her office. "I'll send Alucard; he can stay undetected."

Walter gave chase. "_Alucard_ in a children's ward! Those children will never get better seeing _him_ wandering around!"

Commander Richard Myles, replacement for the sorely missed Peter Fargason, handed Axel a maroon armband upon which had been embroidered the quartered shield that was the _Hellsing _organisation's crest. "Here you go, Jaeger, this aught to stop friendly fire."

"Uh…cheers." Axel took it and looked at it as though he had just been given an alien device but eventually slipped it up past his elbow on his left arm where it was supposed to go and eyed it critically.

"I don't see why you won't wear the uniform." Myles said with a shake of his head while Axel and Alucard ambled along behind him as he led the teen to a munitions cabinet.

"I said; I'm comfortable in this. _This _is my uniform and it serves its purpose. I have a reason for wearing every bit of it y'know. It's not just because I fancied wearing it. Each bit has a point."

"Really?" Alucard said with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah. This top is close fitting so there is nothing baggy to catch on anything or be grabbed. The jeans are hard wearing and easy to wash as well as being tight to prevent snagging on stuff as well. The wrist bands are to stop bites if I'm trying to defend myself, the gloves are for grip but are fingerless so I can actually use my fingers, full gloves never seem to fit me. Oh yeah…the boots are this long so I can tuck in the jeans and to stop downed ghouls evil little habit of trying to gnaw on my ankles. See; everything has a reason." He did a little fashion show twirl. "And a silver cross in case I feel the urge to make an annoying vampire eat it."

"Well that aside." Myles said hurriedly before the building tension could reach its peak. "Take this."

He reached into the cabinet then extracted and offered Axel an MP5 assault rifle.

"Oooh…" Axel accepted it with a worryingly happy grin.

"Do you know how to use it?"

Axel held it in a manner that though pretty much correct showed that he actually had no clue and was just trying to get comfortable, repeating what he had seen in movies and video games. "I can guess."

"Hmm." Myles started adjusting Axel's position for him. "There, that's more like it."

"Err…cheers." He was not fond of having someone moving him about like a poseable action figure but didn't want to start an argument with a human he had only just met.

"Alright, this way then. We'll get you on some target practice."

The short range targets turned out to be nothing short of a breeze for him once he got the hang of the aiming and the kick that the rifle produced that was a far cry from his spear gun. The hardest part in it all was trying to stop himself reactively closing his eyes each time he pulled the trigger and to attempt to train his somewhat enhanced hearing to not be so delicate to the roar of automatic gunfire. In fact the first time he took a shot he had nearly dropped it from the shock of the noise, which had made Alucard laugh quite heartily. The mocking gave Axel a new boiling determination and so, quite amazingly, he quickly mastered what it took some men a few days or even weeks to learn. The mid-length targets fell in rapid succession with near perfectly aimed shots. He never missed the head or heart markers but didn't always get them dead centre…still…he was pretty damn good. He was, however, still learning but he was doing so fast. Both Myles and Alucard watched with growing fascination.

Myles decided to move him on to the long-range targets…targets set at such a distance that a decent shot should not be achievable without a scope. Axel's newly acquired MP5 did not have such an attachment. This was a test of his inhuman abilities more than anything else; Myles wanted to know just what he could be capable of and what he could handle. He needed to know whether to treat him more as a human or vampire in regards to what he could ask of him.

Axel fitted the rifle against his shoulder, brought his eye to the sights and eased his finger on the trigger.

"Do you think you can hit it?" Myles asked. Peering through binoculars.

Axel took the shot.

Both man and vampire could see the result; Alucard through his sight and Myles through his device. The target was left with a neat hole in its forehead.

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" Axel replied to the question with a cocky grin. "Hell yeah."

"Not too shabby." Alucard agreed. "But there is room for improvement."

"Ok." The barrel swung up to between the vampire's eyes. "How about I practice on your head?"

"Try all you want, you'd never hit me." Alucard smirked.

"Wanna test that?"

"Hey! This is not why you are here." Myles commanded both of them, Axel mainly, to cease the threats and stupidity.

For a second Axel forgot himself, bared his fangs and hissed at his un-dead nemesis before smiling sweetly at Myles. "So, what's next?"

"To be honest with you I'm not sure. You're proficient enough with a gun and I'm sure hand-to-hand is something you have no problem with. You can already deal with vampires, Freaks and ghouls so I suppose the only thing left is for you to get used to working as part of a team. You won't be off on your own any more so you'll need to know proper military group tactics and co-operation"

The shrinking of the smile indicated that Axel didn't much like that idea. "Not a good plan."

"Oh, and why is that?" Myles crossed his arms.

"People get hurt around me. Not always the bad guys."

For just a second, another fraction of thought escaped Axel's mind and reached Alucard; a single image of Theo. It didn't take a genius to work out that Axel blamed himself for his brother's premature demise.

"The orders were to have you join a field team so there isn't any point in trying to change that." Myles said as he marched to the door. "Come on, you're in luck. We have a few others part-way through training so we'll be able to slip you straight in."

"I can't work in a group; how many times do you want me to say that?"

"This is not a discussion! You are a member of _Hellsing_ now, Jaeger, and so _Hellsing_'s rules apply. Your superiors give you orders and you carry them out without question and without argument, are we clear?"

The rifle gave a protesting, metallic groan from the pressure created by Axel's suddenly tightened fists. "Yes…"

"Yes what, Jaeger?"

"Yes, _sir_."

"Better." Myles knew full well that he was going to have his work cut out for him. It was bad enough that Axel was a teenager, let alone a half vampire at the same time, which was going to add considerable difficulty. Myles had to develop a position of authority over the boy as soon as possible as vampires' craved power and control as well as blood and death. Even if Axel gained only a second's worth of having the upper hand it could encourage his vampire half to become more prominent within him.

Without a word Alucard left, disappearing into an invisible void.

Myles did not question his sudden departure; no man ever dared try to decipher the dark lord's thoughts. He came and went as he pleased and as Director Hellsing demanded. He was unpredictable, but pretty much safe. No-one wanted to disturb that and so left him in peace to his master and his shadows.

If only 'safe' could be applied to the seventeen year old following behind him with a loaded gun in his hands.

The training field unit were surprised when the boy was introduced to them. They had been expecting a new member but not one so young.

"He's just a kid." One clueless man observed out loud.

"Oh shut your trap." Axel barked back.

"That is quite enough, Jaeger." Myles warned again. "If anyone here has a problem with this arrangement; you can take it up with _me_. Alright?"

There was a mumbled chorus of 'yes, sir's' from all present. Myles never had been and never would be a particularly tall or impressive looking man but neither his height, nor his appearance had never been an issue. He was a dark haired, bright eyed, proud, protestant ex-SAS soldier whose voice commanded immediate obedience, while those who challenged him were not let off lightly. He was both feared and respected by his troops and was a natural candidate for the rank he held.

Myles wondered when he should tell the other men what their new teammate was. They had expected a grown human soldier of sorts but they had been shown a still growing teen…that wasn't human at all.

"There is something that you'll need to take into account with the new recruit. Yes, he may be a year too young but that doesn't matter; he is already faster and stronger than all of you and is also already experienced in our kind of work."

Confused and annoyed looks were exchanged all round.

"He's a dhampir; human mother, vampire father, so get used to it. Prejudice and racism will not be tolerated. Clear?"

"Yes, sir." Was the collective agreement.

Even when thrown in with the training unit, Myles observed that Axel tried to separate from the others, go off on his own and break contact. There were three occasions in which he nearly 'accidentally' shot his teammates after they had yelled at him for his general attitude.

Myles sighed and watched the dhampir kick a target dummy's head over a wall.

This was not how things were supposed to be done at all…

By the time Axel returned home for the night, to prepare for a depressing round of school in the morning before coming back for night work, it had been decided that his position in _Hellsing _would have to be adjusted…perhaps to an active field unit. Hanging back and destroying targets alongside people he was desperately trying to avoid was only causing unwanted havoc. Usually the dummy targets could be used a good few times over; unfortunately Axel had already completely demolished five of them single handily beyond all hopes of repair. He was too fast and too impulsive for his 'team mates' and rushed in without thinking, they couldn't keep up and nor did they want to for he barely even looked at the doors before bursting into each of the rooms. Some 'team mates' had even divulged to Myles that they were actually afraid of him; they said he got 'far too happy' about the whole situation and every time he pulled the trigger a kind of invisible wild fire grew behind his eyes.

Myles in turn reported all of this to Integra.

"Wild fire?" She asked, for clarity.

"Yes ma'am. That's what I was told. It was also described to me as 'a real crazy look, I thought he was going to go all Hannibal Lecter on us.' Those were one man's exact words."

"To a degree, Captain, that is a good thing; it proves that his vampiric lusts are being sated but not loosed."

Myles nodded. "So what is your advice on where he should be placed?"

"Things never go right when rushed, but I feel that keeping Jaeger in training for much longer could cause even more problems. His desires will only be occupied by dummies for a limited, short time and for now the novelty value will be amusing him. To keep him happy, as it were, he will need the 'variety' of real fieldwork. Transfer him to your active unit; I'd like to keep him with you as he has already established a working relationship with you. He is growing used to you giving orders now so we'll leave it that way if at all possible, but remind him that he is the one working for _Hellsing _and not the other way around. We will offer him the help he needs but only within our pre set rules and boundaries; we will not compromise for him."

"Of course."

"Are they _really_ afraid of him?" she could believe them to be intimidated but not afraid.

"More than they are of Alucard."

"How so?" this was a turn up for the books.

"They know that Alucard can be controlled and that he is bound to serve you, but Jaeger has only his own will to keep himself at bay."

_Alucard probably won't like that. _Integra thought. He did so pride himself on the fear he could instil in poor short-time mortals. She reached over and selected a slim cigar from the box on her desk, placed it between her lips and lit it. Drawing in and exhaling a good draw of the smoke before continuing. "Is there anything else that I need to know?"

"No ma'am, that's all."

"I will arrange Jaeger's transference first thing tomorrow. You are dismissed."

Myles saluted formally and left.

The very minute he was out of the way the same hauntingly familiar, shrinking feeling crept through the room. It didn't take a genius to work out who had just decided to arrive.

"Something you want?" Alucard asked.

"Yes, though I didn't call for you." She said, taking another pull on the cigar.

"That is beside the point; I still heard you. You know that."

"I have a task for you." She told him, cutting to the chase. "But before that I have a question of sorts…well…more of a request really."

"Mm?"

She took the cigar away from her mouth, holding it between two fingers and watching the smoke curl away upwards towards the ceiling where it would dissipate into nothingness. "Tell me what you know of the Caladrius."

"Caladrius?" What a strange question for her to ask him. He decided not to read her mind to discover the origins of her query…it would be far more fun to work out for himself why his austere master was chasing myths that were nearly as old as Christianity in England. He quoted what he knew from something he had seen a very long time ago. "The Caladrius is like unto Christ who turneth his face from those who reject him but takes upon himself the sins of others. For if a man be sick this sage bird can see the illness and all its course. If it doth turn away its face, then the man be fated to certain death, but if he can be healed then the Caladrius will draw the sickness unto his own self and fly up to the heavens. Here the sun doth burn away the sickness and disperse it through the air."

"You are familiar then."

"Yes."

"Good. Then you'll have an idea what you are looking for when you pay a visit to Lewisham hospital paediatrics ward and seeing if the 'sage bird' is somehow there and causing childrens' deaths."

"Childrens' ward?"

"Correct. This is unofficial, Alucard, so keep it secret and keep yourself out of sight. No innocent is to be harmed but if you discover something or someone is deliberately doing this then you are to stop them by all means necessary without revealing yourself to anyone but the perpetrator of this crime."

"Isn't this a police matter?"

"Do as you're told."

"Yes, Master."

"Try to get it over with tonight, go now. You'll be alone as you're the only one capable of keeping your presence hidden."

"At once, Master."

To be continued……

_Author's Note – Another one done with. This is really starting to go weird…Alucard in a childrens' ward? What was I thinking? Well…it'll serve its purpose. By the way; the Caladrius is a real legend and Alucard's quote came from a book I have that has all sorts of myths and things in it. _

_As usual I ask for reviews._

_Thanks for all the ones I've had so far!_

_To mwbailey – Thank you for paying so much attention. I honestly appreciate reviews such as this. I'll go back to fix typo's e.c.t at some point. (I don't have a proof reader for this fic and I am a bad speller) Well, I'll apologise for getting Axel wrong but I can't change him now. Changing a character half way through a story is worse than getting them wrong in the first place, in my humble opinion. I'm pretty happy with the way he is and will say this for him – he's not like normal boys because he _isn't _a normal boy, he's a dhampir. He's also a lot bloody nicer than half the boys and men I have had the misfortune to have been in the presence of…maybe that's just me though…In regards to italics, bold e.c.t. It's because I can't get this site to upload symbols to distinguish telepathic speech. Also, it's sometimes to show the difference between 'Hellsing' the organisation and _'Hellsing' _the family name. Otherwise...I'm sorry for being so confusing and will try to remedy the situation when the time is available._


	6. P 06: Visitors in the Night 1

Part Six: Visitors in the Night (1)

The ward was the same as all other children's wards wherever you seem to go; as much white as possible had been squeezed in between garish, badly hand painted Disney characters who's sole aim was to try and convey an illusion of bright, cheerful happiness to keep the patients calm, happy and as compliant as it was possible to get them. The stinging scent of disinfectant and overwhelming cleanliness attacked the senses as though trying to clean you inside as well as out and it clung to every wall and door. But flowing through it all was the odour of sickness; it embedded every hospital and sank into their very foundations; stone too could hold memories, even modern concrete and the passing of thousands of illnesses, births, deaths and accidents would always remain no matter what kinds of bleach were thrown about.

Most humans would never notice it but Alucard did as he slunk through the darkened, midnight corridors with his footfalls making less sound than a drifting down feather. Whenever a member of staff entered the path of his wanderings he merely needed to dissolve into the darkness and become just another shadow to be completely ignored. For a moment he was convinced that this was just too easy but reminded himself that he was in a place of science designed to heal the masses in a public area, not some castle in the middle of nowhere or a facility filled to the brim with horrors and enemies.

This was really not his forte. His job was to do what he did best and what his blood told him; to kill…and sometimes intimidate. But this was a whole new kettle of fish.

He emerged through a wall into a room filled with beds, which in turn were filled with peacefully sleeping children; their little hands curled around blankets, teddies and other such comfort items that they needed hen they were so far from home.

He could sense something about this particular part of the ward; something akin to the feeling surrounding Axel, the lingering touch of that which is not human. Creatures created of darkness or light always left their mark upon man's world.

Looking for the Cladrius…what a ridiculous thing to be doing…especially in a modern day hospital. _Bird watching._ He though to himself. _Is this what I am reduced to?_

He let his gaze flit over every part of the room and moved position frequently in the hope that he might find one place that 'radiated' unearthliness more than others.

No such luck.

He suddenly got the distinct feeling that he was being watched. In fact, he _knew_ that he was being watched. Turning his head very slightly to the right he saw a pair of hazel green eyes watching him intently from behind loose brown curls and a stuffed animal of questionable type. It looked as though his 'cover' was blown.

The eyes were filled with worry and the moment that the owner of the eyes realised they had been spotted the eyelids slammed closed as though if she couldn't see him he would not be able to see her; the usual juvenile logic.

The girl could be no more than five years old and had no idea what to think of the man, clothed in red and black, who had crept into the ward. He couldn't be a doctor or nurse and visiting times were well and truly over until the next day, so who was he, what did he want and why did it sound as though he was getting closer to her? She eased one eye open…yes; he was crossing the wardroom to reach her bedside. What should she do! He scared her…he had walked right trough the wall…he looked so strange, so tall and pale…was he a bad man?

She closed her eyes again.

"I know that you saw me." She heard a harsh voice whisper.

Her little eyelids squeezed together a little more and her fingers curled tighter around the toy…possibly a rabbit.

"You're not invisible, little girl."

Her eyes crept open yet again and fixed on the orange tinted sunglasses in front of her. The face upon which the glasses rested was grinning…with sharp teeth…_very_ sharp teeth. She opened her mouth to scream but was so afraid that the only noise that she could force out was a high pitched but quiet wheezing.

"Have you seen a white bird, little girl?" Alucard asked her. He didn't want to be doing this at all…he didn't want to deal with a mortal child. The problem with children was that their tiny heads were always so confused and full up with a mix between fantasy and reality that made it extremely difficult to extract things from them. Mind reading was practically impossible…but at this rate he may just have to try. As soon as he had discovered anything he could use from this girl he would magically induce sleep in her tiny frame and she would wake up convinced that he had just been part of a nightmare.

The small head nodded in response to his question.

"Where did you see it and what was it doing?"

"Mmmm…" this time only mumbling ensued.

_Damn it all, why children? Why did it have to be in a place like this? _"Care to answer?"

A small shaky hand appeared over the covers and offered a finger that pointed to a bed opposite. It was empty. By the smell lingering around it, he judged that it had only recently been vacated. Perhaps yesterday.

Alright, so what did that have to do with anything?

The small girl still didn't speak, and he decided that he might rather wade through the murky depths of her fairy tale mangled thoughts than try to get a spoken answer from her.

The sound of careful footsteps alerted him to the nearing presence of a nurse doing her round of checking on the children. Damn, that meant that he was going to have to leave the girl and he'd be back to square one…not that he had gotten far anyway. He stepped backwards into the wall.

The girl ducked under the covers again, taking the stuffed…possibly dog…with her to hug protectively.

The nurse took a stroll up and down the aisle between the beds, made a few checks and was satisfied that all was well. With that duty done she returned to her station.

The girl beneath the covers decided to take a risk; she tossed the covers away from herself and made a dash for the door, dragging the fluffy…possibly cat…along the ground behind her by one leg. She was hoping that she could reach an adult who could make her safe again from the scary man with the Cheshire cat grin.

But as the door neared her grasp two strong arms scooped her up from the floor.

"It's rude to ignore people." Alucard told her very quietly.

She kicked and struggled but he barely felt it, it was like she was pushing at stone; hopeless.

When he spoke he had his mouth right by her ear and so even though he was barely whispering his voice was sickeningly loud to her. "Just tell me what I want to know."

She couldn't make herself speak. Even if she had wanted to she just couldn't bring any words out.

_Damn, damn, damn. _He was just going to have to fish.

He opened his mind to hers and connected with the memories in her head. Just as he had suspected she was full of the terrifying mix of lies and truth that children thought the world to be. Such as the universal presumption that the world was a safe place and people were good…hmm, seems he'd just shattered that one…but kids minds were resilient things and anything he had damaged would soon heal over when she awoke and comforting adults told her that it was nothing more than a bad dream. But there was a true fear in there too; a _new _fear, a fear of what appeared in the childrens' ward at one o'clock in the morning. That was it; everything surrounding that was far too muddled to work out specifics from. It reminded him of the blood reading he had done for just like then he could find hints but nothing solid. _Close but no cigar. Ah well._

He carried her back to her bed and dumped her on the sheets. She promptly shrank back against the wall with the…possibly monkey…tight against her like a shield.

Alucard looked to the clock on the wall, that man-made instrument constantly ticking away moments of life and counting mortal men down to their deaths. He didn't like clocks. He found their ticking quite unnerving. It appeared to be just about twelve thirty.

He could wait

One o'clock wouldn't take long. If he could pass survive twenty years rotting in a dungeon with only his own mind for company he could damn well last out half and hour. He perched himself on the edge of the bed, wriggled a little to get comfortable and then waited.

The girl waited too…she was utterly confused…why had he stopped, what was he doing? He had been all scary but now he just looked bored. Ten minutes passed in the silent room and she gathered enough courage to edge closer to him. "Why are you still here?" she asked.

He turned his face to her, a little grateful to have something other than the hands of the clock to look at. "I'm waiting." Though the relief was short lived. _Great, so _now_ you decide you want to speak. Good grief, children._

"What for?"

"One o'clock."

Her face screwed up in though for a few seconds. "That's when the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on the one?"

"Yes."

"That's when the birdy comes." She said and peered around the room as if by mentioning it she might have accidentally invoked it into appearing.

_Maybe this can be used to my advantage. _"What does it do when it comes?" he enquired pleasantly in the tone of voice that was specifically reserved by all peoples for small children and pets.

"Not sure; m' to scared to look, but I know it goes to a bed and whoever is asleep there get sicker and sicker and the birdy keeps coming back to make them more sicker until they get taken away forever."

"Does it come back at the same time every night?"

"Think so…why?"

"I'm here to catch it."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You came out of the wall."

"I know." _Now I need an excuse…oh hell, she's just a child; loose truth will work better than any lie. _"I'm magic."

"My mummy says that there is no such thing as magic."

He raised one eyebrow. It was so typical of a child to try to stick to the words of the parent even when faced with obvious contradicting proof.

He flicked his head back to the clock to check on how time was progressing…it was now about quarter to. He looked down at the floor and wondered if he should hide again in case the Caladrius sensed his presence and refused to appear this night. That was if what he was dealing with actually _was_ the Caladrius. Until he saw it he had no way of knowing.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses in the dark?" the girl questioned.

She was really starting to annoy him. Why did she have to ask him so many questions? He wanted to just send her to sleep but she was being a little more useful now. The more he knew the better prepared he could be…but then again; if it really was here at all it was only a silly little bird. He didn't know why he had left her awake this long. He looked back to answer her question. "Because I can."

"But why?"

_Oh please, not the 'why' game. _"You don't need to worry about it."

The girl settled her toy in her lap then reached up with both hands to his face and wrapped her small fingers around his shades where the arms met the lens frame. She gently pulled them away from him. He wasn't entirely sure why he let her do it. He supposed that he vaguely admired her courage; he had held her in fear yet now she was so curious she was willing to take her life in her own two hands. He could feel that she was still afraid of him yet that wasn't stopping her.

She looked at his now naked eyes. "Oh, your eyes are bleeding!" she gasped as quietly as a surprised female human child can be.

"No." he said, wiping his eyes and showing her that his glove was not stained with blood. "They're just red."

"Do they hurt? My daddy sometimes gets red in his eyes when he's got a headache."

"No, they don't hurt." He took back his shades and slid them back where they belonged.

"How long have they been like that?"

_Why so many questions? _"A long, long time." _Something over 525 years, but I don't think you need to know that._ He was suddenly horribly aware of the ticking of the clock. It was five to now.

"You should go to sleep." He told the girl. _And I should think about getting out of sight. _

"-m not sleepy."

"Yes you are." He told her as he closed her eyes for her with two fingers. "So very tired."

She slowly slumped forwards without a word. He closed the two fingers together and placed them in the small space between her eyes. "Forget." With that at last over and done with he tucked her back into bed for the remainder of the night. She wouldn't remember any of it at all once she had awoken. And if by chance there were still some residual memories he had missed she would discard them as mere dreams. Perhaps in the morning there would be odd drawings of a man with a red coat and hat appearing in the children's ward.

With one final glance to the room and a readjustment of his sunglasses he fell back into the shadows of the nearest wall to wait for o'clock and, hopefully, the mythical bird that a young girl feared with all of her soul.

----------

She had grown tired again. She had been spending so much time awake recently. Integra, instead of actually sleeping, would take short catnaps throughout the day and night where work would permit her to do so. But now she had decided that it was time that she made herself get the full amount of real sleep that she desperately needed.

She had retreated to the comfort and respite of her warm bedroom as soon as Alucard had left for the hospital and had fallen asleep before her head had even hit the pillow.

It was such a shame that she didn't managed to stay that way; peace just didn't come to the Director of _Hellsing_ that easily.

The strangest of feelings began to creep over her, filling each and every on of her nerves with a sensation that was not altogether very pleasant in the slightest. It made her feel nervous…worried…uneasy…Then for the shortest of moments she thought she heard a stranger's voice call out her name and in that moment she was calm again. Then it was gone and she was left to shiver in the dark.

She turned over, curled up a little and tried to tell herself that it was nothing, that it was sleep deprivation making the sounds of the mansion settling itself seem like something they were not. Content with this knowledge she closed her eyes and began to sleep again.

But again…she had to open her eyes and stop her resting.

It was little more than a whisper in the wind but she was sure something was calling her…but not in any words. It was more of a drifting sensation that was gently encouraging her…to do what?

She pulled back the covers, swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. For a minute she just listened for the calling and then padded away out of her room. She wandered the halls in her pyjamas, dressing gown and bare feet, somehow unintentionally avoiding every man and woman in the manor and also managing not to attract the attention of her garrotte-wielding butler. She made her way slowly to the very back of the building and walked up to one of the many windows. She opened it fully, sliding it up its rails until it could go no further and then climbed outside, pausing briefly on the sill to look about. Outside, her dressing gown and hair whipped around her and her pyjama top billowed about her chest while she surveyed the area surrounding her on the grass of the manor grounds. In the dark she spotted a pair of glinting red eyes and for a second her breath caught in her throat...what was she doing out there…what had convinced her that this was a good idea; coming outside in the dark without a weapon or notifying someone of her whereabouts…had she even thought about it at all…had she been unconsciously led away from the safety of the mansion…a trap?

And what was out there with her?

To whom or to what did the red eyes belong and what did they or it want with her?

To be continued…

_Author's Note – Ye gods; an update! _

Chicken-Chan – _Ello there…though why I'm leaving a message when I saw you yesterday I don't know. Anywho catch ya later. P.S – I finished ure Shaman King last night. eh-he._

Kiyonekage – _I'm glad I'm not the only one. Being short sucks royally. But…it means I can get cheap fares pretending to be younger than I really am, hehehe. Thought it's difficult trying to convince people I am my real age sometimes. The surprise can be amusing._

Jaided – _Hooray! Someone likes the fic. Uh…genius is something I've never heard before…Thank you. I'm sorry the update took so long but when people don't show much interest I kinda forget to post and just carry on writing for myself._


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